JF 487 
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The Business Hen 



[A New Brood] 




Published by 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER., NEW YORK 



4 



THE BUSINESS HEN 

{A NEW BROOD) 



HERBERT W. COLLINGWOOD 

EDITOR 



ASSISTED BY 

PROF. JAMES E. RICE GEO. A. COSGROVE 

MISS F. E. WHEELER DR. COOPER CURTICE 

W. W. HIGGINS F. Q^ WHITE 

J. E. STEVENSON O. W. MAPES 

PROF. G. M. GOWELL H. E. COOK 
AND MANY OTHERS 



PUBLISHED BY 

THK RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NEW YORK 






LIBRSBY nf 0ON8RESS 
Two Oooies Received 
SEP 15 1904 

^Oopyrljrht Entry 
$44 /S-l ?<>¥■ 
CLASS <XxXo. No. 

' COPY B 



Copyright, 1904 
By The Rural Publishing Co. 

All rights rmrvcd 



INTRODUCTION 



During the past ten years The Rural New Yorker has given much 
space to poultry matters. It was necessary to do this in order to answer 
the thousands of questions asked by readers. These questions were from 
practical men and women — not fanciers — who asked how to obtain a good 
hen, and how to feed and care for her in a business-like way. In order 
to answer these questions we found it necessary to scour the country from 
one end to the other and to obtain help from hundreds of practical poul- 
try keepers. We find that from year to year many of these questions 
are repeated — by new readers or by those who have mislaid their papers. 
This has led us to prepare this book, for it is evident that the informa- 
tion will be far more accessible in book form. These thousands of 
questions were grouped and analyzed. We then went to the most practi- 
cal poultry keepers for information. The vast amount of information thus 
obtained has been sorted, cut down and rewritten to fit into this book. 
There are of course many details which cannot be crowded into these 
pages. New conditions are constantly arising, and the most expert 
poultry keepers are often puzzled by things which they cannot under- 
stand. We must all know also that many of the most important things 
can only be taught by experience. Any reader of The R. N.-Y. is welcome 
to ask for further information. We can obtain it for him, and in this 
way supply all the details which he may need. We have avoided all 
reference to "big stories" or fancy operations, and attempted to give a 
statement of methods which practical men have found safe and useful. 
While hundreds of men and women have helped with experience and ad- 
vice, I wish to express special thanks to Prof. James E. Rice, who pre- 
pared the chapter on "What is an Egg" and "Marketing the Egg" and to 
Dr. Cooper Curtice, who wrote the article on "Health of the Hen." 

H. W. COLLING WOOD. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

Chapter I The Business Breeds 5 

Chapter II The Scrub Hen Turned to Business 10 

Chapter III Parents of the Egg 13 

Chapter IV What is an Egg? 18 

Chapter V Hatching the Egg 29 

Chapter VI The Chicken's Nurse 3G 

Chapter VII Care of the Baby Chick 40 

Chapter VIII The Young Bird 45 

Chapter IX The Hen's House 49 

Chapter X Feeding the Hex 58 

Chapter XI The Colony Plan GS 

Chapter XII The Market Gardener's Hens 73 

Chapter XIII The Boy's Hens 77 

Chapter XIV Marketing Poultry Products S3 

Chapter XV Marketing Eggs 88 

Chapter XVI Companions of the Hen 93 

Chapter XVII The Health of the I [en 98 

Chapter XVIII. .. .Purebred Poultry Ill 

Chapter XIX Who Should Keep Hens? 113 

Chapter XX Odds and Ends 120 



CHAPTER I. 
The Business Breeds. 

To succeed with poultry, a man must be "half hen." That 
means that he must love the business and understand the hen. Such 
a man naturally likes the breed best adapted to his business. There 
are different kinds of men and thus there are different breeds of 
poultry, each one 
best fitted for some spe- 
cial purpose. The key- 
note of this book is the 
fact that no man can sup- 
ply another with that 
element known as good 
judgment. We try to 
give here facts about 
poultry. The reader is 
urged to apply them, 
and learn for himself 
what will suit him best. 
Business hens may be 
roughly classed under 
three heads, — Mediter- 
ranean, or non-sitters ; 
American, or general- 
purpose breeds which 
have been obtained by 
crossing ; and Asiatics, 
or meat-p r o d u c i n g 
breeds. Briefly stated, 
their business qualities 
may be described about 
as follows : 

MEDITERRANEAN OR NON-SITTERS.— The Leghorn is the 
best example of this class; a small, nervous hen with a very largfe 
comb. The Leghorn, without doubt, is the best breed for those who 
want an abundance of large, white eggs, or those who want a small flock 
for a small enclosure. With us the Black Minorca lays a larger white 
egg, but is more tender, not as hardy as the Leghorn, and requires more 
feed, though standing confinement better. The Brown Leghorn is smaller 




Fig. 1. TUREP.RED WHITE LEGHORNS. 



(3 



The Business Hen. 



than the White, and lays a smaller egg, except some families which have 
been bred for large eggs. The Brown is thought to be hardier than the 
White, and with us seems to stand confinement better, and on the whole 
will lay a few more eggs. The Brown Leghorn, however, is more difficult 
to breed true to color, and makes a poorer carcass when dressed. The ob- 
jections to Leghorns are the small size of some families, the large comb, 
which makes them tender in Winter, and to some extent the fact that 
the hens rarely sit, so that incubators must be used. The White Leghorns 
make good broilers, but are too small to make the size of poultry known 
as roasters. A prominent breeder of Leghorns, speaking of the profit to be 
made in young White Leghorn roosters, says : 

"In eight weeks I can make these birds weigh V/ 2 pounds per pair. 
They look like a squab and bring $1.50 per pair. They make a more 
attractive broiler, are meaty and of high quality. It takes the heavier 
breeds longer to mature; it costs nearly twice as much to house them, 
and fully double as much to feed them." One argument in favor of Leg- 
horns, for town lots, is that they occupy less space in houses. A house 
that will comfortably house 40 Leghorns would be small for 25 Brahmas, or 
30 Plymouth Rocks, while eggs are the chief consideration for town 
poultry. As a rule eggs from the Leghorns are more fertile than those 
from larger breeds. The young Leghorn hen shown at Fig. 1 laid a clutch 
of eggs and hatched them before she was five months old. 

AMERICAN BREEDS.— This class includes such breeds as Ply- 
in o u t h Rocks, 
Wyandottes and 
Rhode Island Reds, 
produced by crossing 
older breeds and 
selecting birds true 
to a fixed type 
through a number of 
years. For example, 
the Plymouth Rock 
resulted from cross- 
ing the Dominique 
and the Java with the 
Brahmas. It is also 
stated that the Pit 
Games were used to 
produce this breed. 
The Wyandotte came 
from a non-sitting 
Pig. 2. A 237-EGG PLYMOUTH ROCK. breed on one side, and 




The Business Breeds. 




Fig. 3. A GOOD WHITE WYANDOTTE. 



ought therefore to 
average better lay- 
ers. These Ameri- 
can breeds have the 
same general fea- 
tures, plump, well- 
shaped bodies, 
clean, yellow legs, 
and a yellow skin. 
The English Or- 
pington is much the 
same general type, 
but has not yellow 
skin. This yellow 
color is important, 
as the American 
market calls for yel- 
low meat. These 

American breeds not only lay well, but also furnish a good carcass of sala- 
ble meat. They are larger than the Leghorns, consume rather more feed, 
and do not as a rule lay as many eggs. The eggs of the American breeds 
are brown in color, and generally not as large as those from the White 
Leghorns. While brown eggs are preferred in some markets, such as Boston 
and other New England cities, the general demand is for white eggs. For 
farm stock where the flock is kept to supply meat and eggs for the farm, 
with a surplus of each to sell, one of the American breeds will prove 
very satisfactory. They may be compared with the general-purpose cow, 
while the Leghorn represents the special-purpose Jersey. Both the Ply- 
mouth Rock and Wyandotte are bred in different colors, but the color 
adds little of value to the breed except the pleasing effect to the eye. 
The Barred Plymouth Rock is one of the strongest and hardiest of breeds, 
but the White of both Plymouth Rock and Wyandotte are more popular. 
Some years ago the flocks in farmers' yards were largely speckled, but 
now a large proportion of them will be found white. Why is one Ameri- 
can breed better than another? The answer will be largely a matter of 
opinion. A Plymouth Rock breeder, when asked why he prefers that 
breed to Wyandottes, gives the following answer : 

"I do not consider there is much difference between the Wyandottes 
and the Plymouth Rocks, at least not a contrast as exists between either 
one of the above and the Leghorn, or such as is between the Leghorn 
and Cochin. I think which one a person prefers — Wyandotte or Plymouth 
Rock — is much a matter of fancy, but I consider that there are these 
differences : First, the Plymouth Rock equals them as layers, but sur- 



8 The Business Hen. 

passes them in color and size of egg. Second, the Plymouth Rock equal? 
or excels the Wyandotte as a table fowl, and surpasses it in weight. The 
latter point I consider the strongest. Anyone raising poultry for market, 
and especially farmers, 1 think should have the heaviest fowls, provided 
they are good layers. Good laying and large size are best combined, 1 
think, in the Plymouth Rocks." The picture of a serviceable Barred Ply- 
mouth Rock hen is shown at Fig. 2. This hen is known to have laid 
237 eggs during her first year. 

A Wyandotte breeder, in reply, makes these claims: "White Wyan- 
dottes are smaller birds, maturing quicker, commencing to lay two or 
four weeks earlier than the Plymouth Rocks. I am aware that this will 
be disputed by Plymouth Rock breeders, especially those with flocks 
below standard size, and I am willing to admit that Rocks of Wyandotte 
size may lay as quickly. The White Wyandottes when dressed for market 
have no dark pin feathers, but show a clear yellow skin, while the Ply- 
mouth Rock chicks have a mottled appearance, owing to the coloring 
matter in the pin feathers. The Wyandottes do not have so deep a breast 
bone, consequently are rounder breasted and have a meatier look than 
the P. Rock chicks of the same age. The larger the breed is the longer 
it takes to reach the egg-laying stage, and in selecting a breed of fowls a 
man must determine whether a month's earlier production of eggs in 
November or December isn't worth more than an additional pound oi 
meat, which by the way cannot be produced for nothing, but must be paid 
for in feed. Another point in favor of the Wyandottes is uniformity of 
color, without the trouble of special matings for cockerels and for pullets, 
which are necessary to obtain uniformity in breeding Barred Rocks. 
This objection does not obtain as against White Plymouth Rocks, of 
course, but all the other objections hold. Another factor in determining 
me to change breeds was that my Wyandottes seemed to be much better 
layers. Against the Wyandottes was the fact that in muddy seasons the 
plumage would get badly soiled, giving the flock a dirty appearance, not 
noticed in Barred Plymouth Rocks. As layers the White Wyandottes 
are not excelled by any other breed except possibly the Leghorns, and in 
Winter months, under similar conditions, I think they will surpass the 
Leghorns." The White Wyandotte shown at Fig. 3 laid 219 eggs in 
her first season, and kept up her record later. 

THE ASIATICS. — The Light Brahma is the most popular type of this 
class, a large, slow, well-feathered and well-shaped bird, quiet in disposi- 
tion, laying a fair number of dark brown eggs. The legs are well feathered, 
the comb small, and the hens seem well dressed in fur for Winter work. 
The Brahmas and Cochins are docile and stand confinement well, but 
they fatten readily, and it is harder to keep them free from vermin than 
the lighter and thinner-feathered breeds. The feathers on the legs are 



The Business Breeds. 

objectionable in damp or muddy situations. We are more likely to over- 
feed the larger breeds, and make them too fat for good layers. The good 
points of the Brahma are fairly stated by a leading poultryman as follows : 

"The Light Brahma is a very tame breed; will bear close confinement 
and do well. They may be kept in a yard with a fence three feet high, 
made of wire netting. The chicks will grow very fast; at the age of six 
months they will weigh seven pounds, and will bring the highest market 
price, because they have nice yellow meat and are well fattened. I sold 
my chickens last Fall, and they brought me 18 cents per pound dressed. 
I can fatten them up quicker than the lighter breeds. They are just the 
breed for the city. They are one of the oldest breeds, and have come to 
stay. They are good layers for Winter and Summer, good sitters and 
mothers. For an all-'round breed they cannot be beaten. My objection 
to the smaller breeds is that I live in a village and have not the 
room. Any one who has little room ought not to keep Leghorns or the 
like. They need more run, and more run means more feed. A breed 
that does not run requires less feed, and that is the light Brahma." 

The Cochins and Brahmas have yellow legs and skin, while Langshans, 
another Asiatic breed, have dark legs and white skin. There are many 
other excellent breeds, such as Polish, Hamburg, Orpingtons, Redcaps, 
Javas, Houdans and others. Some of them are profitable in the hands 
of breeders who know and love them, but we do not class them here as 
business hens. The Orpingtons are said to represent a cross between 
the Langshans and the Minorcas. They are classed as excellent layers 
and are gaining in popularity. They lack the yellow skin which is a 
strong feature of the American breeds. The Dorkings are large birds, 
fair layers, and good mothers, perhaps the first of all table fowls, but 
not as hardy as others. The Games are active birds, and while of little. 
value for business, when bred pure are often useful to cross with othei 
breeds, especially when the birds are to run at large on a farm. The half- 
bred Games make good foragers and fair layers, and are able to defend 
themselves against vermin . A half-bred Game hen has been known to fly 
into the air and fight with a hawk in defense of her chicks. It is often 
asked if the new colors which are constantly appearing in all breeds add 
anything of practical value. It is safe to say that there is nothing in the 
color of the plumage of any of the varieties (or strains), of the several 
breeds that indicate superiority. The color is barely skin deep. Each 
variety has its admirers, and each is claimed as something better than the 
others. We have not found color to add merit to a breed, and the onlv 
difference between varieties of the same breed is that the colors are not 
alike. Breeds that are "not very numerous are sometimes lacking in hardi- 
ness by reason of being inbred, but this applies only to Javas, Dorkings, 
Polish, Hamburgs, Redcaps, etc. 



CHAPTER II. 
The Scrub Hen Turned to Business. 

By "scrub" is meant the hen that runs in the barnyard, roosts in a 
tree in Summer, and either in the barn or in some broken henhouse in 
Winter. She is usually of no particular breed. She leaves her mark over 
the machinery, scratches up the garden, when there is any, and keeps busy 
generally. She is not fed regularly. Sometimes the farmer throws out 
a little corn, or the women save some table scraps from dog or cat, but 
the hen lives for the most part on what she can pick up around the barn 
and yard; clover chaff, grain dropped by the stock, anything that her sharp 
eyes can find. In Summer, when insects abound, the scrub hen balances 
her ration better than a chemist could do it for her. A grain of corn, a 
bug, a blade of grass, a nip out of a ripe tomato, a worm or a bit of 
ground feed that the horse dropped out of his mouth, fill the scrub hen's 
crop to overflowing. When lice worry her she rolls in the dust and 
deserts her so-called house. She can usually clear herself of all but head 
lice in this way. Roup and cholera trouble her little — her outdoor life keeps 
her strong ami well. She has the reputation of being a mighty layer, 
because she does about all her laying in the Spring and early Summer, and 
makes a big fuss about is. She rarely lays 50 eggs during the year. No one 
keeps her record. Without care she will go back to the condition of her an- 
cestors, who only laid eggs enough to fill a nest, like the other wild birds. 
She finds her own nest, for those man fixes for her are not to her taste. 
Sometimes she sits on her eggs for several days before they are picked up, 
regardless of the fact that before two days of incubation are over the 
heart of the little chick inside the egg can be plainly seen. The scrub 
hen is not responsible for the fact that thousands of such eggs are sent to 
market to disgust those who ought to buy more eggs ! During the Winter 
the scrub hen quits, and gives a fair imitation of a woodchuck living on 
his fat. No one can blame her! She has all she can do to keep life in 
her body, to say nothing of laying eggs! Many of these scrub hens would, 
if they had the chance, rank well as layers, with some of the purebreds, 
but what can a hen do without a chance? 

In spite of all, many of these flocks of scrub hens are profitable. It 
costs little or nothing to feed them in Summer, and the eggs they lay and 
the meat they furnish are nearly all clear gain. They usually deprive the 
family of a good garden, for few men who will not care for a flock of 
poultry will ever build a fence that will keep them out of the garden. 
Through the Winter they are usually an expense and little more. The 



The Scrub Hen Turned to Business. 11 

ordinary flock of scrub poultry contains a large number of surplus 
roosters — too many for any practical use. Lice, starvation, lack of shelter 
and surplus roosters are the chief reasons why many of these worthy 
hens remain scrubs. In every such flock there is the foundation for a 
class of poultry that will be a credit to the farm, and pay better in propor- 
tion to value than any other stock. If the farmer does not care for the 
job of improvement some woman or child may well take hold of it. 

What can be done? 

The flock is probably inbred — that is, all of one family. Kill off all 
the roosters and eat or sell them. Pick out 15 or 20 of the best of the 
hens, and make some good-sized yard where they can have a good run. 
Make up your mind what class of poultry you want to breed, and then 
buy a Leghorn, a Wyandotte or a Plymouth Rock rooster from some good 
breeder. Don't go to a neighbor and "swap roosters," but get a bird that 
cannot be closely related to your hens. If you can pick out yearling hens, 
buy a young rooster. If the hens are younger buy an older male. Put 
him with your selected hens, and use those eggs for setting. You need no 
other rooster on the farm. If the flock is small you may not want to 
pen up the selected hens, but unless you do you cannot be sure that your 
eggs for hatching will be what you want. The improvement made in one 
season by the use of a good male on selected hens is often surprising. If 
you can do so, buy one or two settings of eggs of the same breed as the 
rooster, and hatch them under your hens. Get them from different 
breeders. Then you can select a good rooster from the chicks for the next 
year's breeding. As soon as the young roosters are large enough to kill 
sell or eat them. Keep only one good one on the farm — with your best 
hens. Do not let the hens hatch where the other hens lay, or send them 
off to steal their nests. You must control such things if you expect to 
improve your stock. Find some old building or room, clean it up and 
handle the sitting hens as described elsewhere in this book. It will takt 
more time to give the hens and chicks this care, but it will pay, as man> 
a farmer's wife has found. When cold weather comes, a warm house will 
be absolutely necessary. This does not mean an expensive building, but a 
shelter of any kind where the hens may be comfortable. In parts of the 
West a frame of poles is set up and covered with straw in November. 
The hens run inside this warm shelter and do well. In May the straw 
is taken away and burned, or used for the garden. The success with such 
rude shelter shows that it is not so much the kind of house, but the 
warmth and freedom from drafts, frost, lice and foul air that makes the 
hen think that Spring has come in February. On every farm where there are 
hens there is some old henhouse. Clean it up and try it. Go at it with 
hoe and boiling water, and make it clean ! Take out the roosts, paint 
them with kerosene, and swab out the cracks and corners. Make a thick 



12 The Business Hen. 

whitewash, add a little carbolic acid to it, and smear the whole inside over. 
An old house is alive with lice, and you should kill them all before you 
force a hen to stay there. Before cold weather comes make that house 
tight. Either tack paper all around inside or put up lath or wire and stuff 
in straw. Keep drafts away from the hens. Study what is said about 
house building and feeding, and come as near to it as you can. The chiet 
object of this book is to show how others have succeeded with hens. The 
scrub grows into the true Business Hen by the application of business 
principles which mean work, care and patience. You must work these 
general rules out to suit your own case. Do not be satisfied with the scrub 
that lays 50 eggs, but give her children the breeding and care that will 
make them lay 150 eggs. 

The history of one of our best American breeds, the Rhode Island 
Red, will show a farmer what an ordinary hen may come to if well handled. 
By carefully selecting his best hens and crossing them with an Asiatic 
breed, a Rhode Island farmer obtained a class of poultry which became 
noted for egg production and meat value. Others took up the hens, and 
from them developed the Rhode Island Reds, which are considered by 
many as strong rivals of the Wyandottes. The breed has not yet been 
' fixed" — that is, specimens will not breed as true in color or habits as 
a breed like the Plymouth Rock. Its future will depend upon the breeders 
who perfect it. If they favor large egg production, they will select hens 
with that object in view and thus we shall have a smaller and more active 
bird than the Light Brahma or even the Plymouth Rock. We speak of this 
to show how a breeder may control the character of his poultry. 

Another thing connected with improvement of the scrub hen is the 
moral or civilizing effect it will have upon the family. The effect upon 
any household of changing a lot of neglected mongrels into a flock of 
handsome and uniform hens cannot help being beneficial. It will create 
a new interest in farming and lead to efforts to improve the larger stock 
on the farm. If some bright boy can be put in charge of the work and 
given a fair chance to develop the hens you will begin to train a good far- 
mer while improving the flock. On some farms the boy often has a colt 
or a calf or pig to call his own, though he does not always get the money 
for it. For many reasons a good flock of poultry would be much better 
for him, and it would be hard to think of any better training for such a 
boy than the patience and skill required to turn a scrub into a "Business 
Hen." 



CHAPTER III. 
Parents of the Egg. 

The egg contains the future chick. It may be said to carry the character 
of the parents wrapped up in a shell. Having selected the breed that is 
best suited to his wants and conditions, the poultry keeper of course wants 
the best specimens of that breed that he can produce. It is far better to 
stick to one breed and select a definite type than to cross breeds. 

PEDIGREE. — We know that with all animals, from cats to cattle, there 
are good and bad specimens in every breed. We call some cows better 
than others because the good ones give more milk than the poor ones. 
We do not from choice raise calves from cows that we know are poor ones. 
If we raise calves at all we save the daughters of the best cows in the 
herd, because we feel sure that some of the good qualities of the mother 
will be handed down to the daughter. We know that such things as color 
and shape are carried in this way, and that character goes along with them. 
If the mother is reasonably sure to give something of her character to her 
daughter she is more likely to do so if her own mother and ancestors, for 
several generations, have been selected for a similar purpose. That is 
what we call "pedigree" in live stock, and improvement in the character 
of the cow or the hen comes through our ability to make the daughter 
better than the mother. The way to do this is to select the best mothers 
for breeding. 

How are we to know them? 

A good dairyman can pick out a first-class milker by her shape and 
various points which he can see or feel. His eye will enable him to make 
a good guess, but he would not raise a calf from one of these cows until 
he had a fair idea of how much milk she can give, or what her mother did. 
Most men who try to improve their poultry must depend on the eye for 
selecting breeding stock. They make up their mind what size, shape and 
color will suit them. When that is fixed in mind they have a "type," and 
they will naturally cull out the birds that fall short of it. By watching 
their hens and observing their habits they soon find that they can pick out 
the layers, just as they learn to separate the workers from the shirks in 
men or in children. They find that the laying hen acts like a worker. She 
is busy and active— off the roost early in the morning after food — a picture 
of nervous energy. The lazy hen is slow to leave the roost, and shows by 
her actions that she takes little interest in the things that attract the layer. 
We cannot describe the "points" of a layer. A man must study them 
for himself. Mr. C. H. Wyckoff, who selected his White Leghorn breeding 



M 



The Business Hen. 



hens by the eye — studying shape and what egg-laying habits he could see — 
said that when he finally made his selection he found the hens about 
as follows : 

EGG TYPE. — "Large-boned, rather long in leg and neck, long on the 
back, deep up and down, with legs set fairly well apart, breast bone some- 
what prominent, flesh hard, strong and muscular, in good condition, but 
not fat ; comb rather above average in size ; eyes bright and full ; disposition 
lively, but not scarey; more inclined to follow after and crowd about than 
to run and fly; large consumers of food, and always hungry when fed 
regularly and given a chance to exercise." 

Of course the type for other breeds would differ from this, but the 
owner must first decide what he wants his hens to be, and then watch for 
that type in his flock. In most breeds the best layers are broad and deep, 

with rather long bodies, with a long 
neck and small head. The shape of the 
hen is not as safe a guide as with 
other animals, for the hen is covered 
with feathers which may seem to 
change her shape. The actions of the 
hen indicate her laying qualities far 
better than her shape ; still it is well 
to fix a certain type in mind and use it 
for our standard. Strong and vigor- 
ous chicks cannot be hatched unless 
the hens are in good condition. If 
they are fat and dumpy the chicks will 
fail. The hens must be kept at work 
and in good condition. 

SELECTING BREEDERS.— When 
a man is keeping poultry for profit, or expects to continue in the business, 
he should keep these selected breeders by themselves with the best male 
bird he can find. In this way he can use the eggs from these hens for 
hatching. Usually he will have to select the male by his appearance, but 
he should try to have him close to the general type of the hens, and be 
sure that he is strong, vigorous and active. It is not a wise plan to select 
these breeders in the Spring, just before their eggs are wanted for hatching. 
All hens are laying them, the lazy as well as the good ones, and the hen 
that lays 50 eggs a year may make more fuss while she is actually working 
than the one that lays 150. We should watch the hens through the season, 
and make the selection during the late Summer and Fall, when most of 
them stop. 

TRAP NESTS.— There is a way of picking the robbers from tht 
workers by using what are called "trap nests." Two of such nests are 




Fig. 4. TRAP NEST OPEN. 



Parents of the Egg. 



15 



shown here. The nest is a box with the door so adjusted that when the 
hen goes in to lay this door closes and shuts her in. She cannot get out 
until some one opens the door. Each hen has a band on her leg carrying 
a number, and by marking her number on the egg she has laid, it is possible 
to know what each hen in the pen is doing. Those who use these trap 
nests tell some remarkable stories about their results. They have picked 
out hens by the eye and found by testing that some of them laid twice 
as many eggs as others. It is claimed that by testing hens with the trap 
nests and using eggs from the best for hatching, through several gener- 
ations, an "egg-laying strain" of great value can be developed. The plan 
is not generally practiced, however. Most breeders think it requires too 
much time. The hens sometimes refuse 
to enter the nests and lay outside. It 
is also claimed that the egg-laying 
habit alone is not a safe guide, but that 
the shape and vigor of the birds must 
be considered. The "trap nest" at least 
gives a chance for selecting a male bird 
of good "pedigree." For the average 
poultry keeper the best advice is to 
pick out a type and study the habits of 
the hens. Then select by the eye hens 
enough to supply the eggs needed for 
hatching. We would especially study 
the actions of the pullets as they begin 
to lay. 

CARE OF BREEDERS.— These 
breeders should be given as large a run 
as possible, for exercise is necessary if 
we expect healthy chicks. Yearling 
hens are selected for breeders with a 
younger male. There are several good 

reasons why pullets are not used for breeding stock by experienced poultry- 
men. They begin laying earlier than the older hens, so that when eggs 
are most wanted for incubators the pullets have been laying steadily for 
a long time. Such eggs are not so likely to be fertile as those laid 
earlier in the laying period and the chicks from them will be weaker. We 
want eggs from the hen in her full vigor, not after she has been exhausted 
by long laying. The pullets too are young and not fully matured, and thus 
not so likely to produce the best chicks. The older hens lay fewer eggs, 
which are likely to be stronger. If pullets are used an older male should 
be put with them, while a vigorous young bird is better for the older hens. 
The number of hens to the male will vary with the breed and the size of the 




Fig. 5. TRAP NEST SHUT. 



16 The Business lien. 

flock. For the heavier breeds 15 hens are enough, while we have known 
cases where one male to 50 Leghorn hens gave a large per cent of fertile 
eggs. For the smaller breeds we prefer an average of 25 hens. In some 
cases two males are used alternately in a small flock. One will run with 
the hens for four or five days, while the other is kept in a small cage. 
Then the caged bird will be set free and his rival put in the cage. This 
double system is more likely to insure fertile eggs, but of course the two 
males must be alike in type. Some successful poultrymen pay little 
attention to selecting breeders, but take eggs from large flocks where 
several males are kept together. Such men say that proper feeding will 
make any hen lay, but unless hens are quite different from all other animals 
their character is largely made by inherited qualities. 

We give considerable space to this matter, because it is the foundation 
of improvement in the flock of poultry. The proper selection and mating 
of the parents of the egg may mean a difference of 50 per cent in 
hatchable eggs and raisable chicks. In some farm flocks little attention 
is paid to improvement by selection — the plea being that it takes too much 
time to bother with such things, though a child might easily be interested 
in it. Even in such cases it will pay to have a certain type in mind, and 
cull out for eating purposes the birds that fall short of this standard. 
We may undo most of our work of breeding by selection if we do not 
bring in "new blood" from time to time. Some good flocks are ruined 
by what is known as "inbreeding" — that is, breeding brothers and sisters 
or closely related members of the same family. We can obtain "new 
blood" by buying a good male bird from some breeder, or several sittings 
of eggs. 

From the chicks hatched from these eggs we should be able to pick 
two or more good males to head our breeding pens; above all things, be 
sure to select strong and vigorous stock. When we buy such eggs or 
birds we buy a share of the skill and patience which other breeders have 
spent in selecting. We may thus buy for a dollar results which would 
cost us five years of personal study and work. 

CROSSING THE BREEDS.— Mr. P. H. Jacobs says that it is the 
common belief among many that to mate individuals of different breeds 
is to insure greater vigor and hardiness, as well as avoid inbreeding. Such 
a system among poultrymen is termed "crossing." Before crossing for 
"vigor" it would be well first to ascertain whether the flock is lacking in 
that respect, and, if so, the safer method would be to discard the individuals 
and replace them with others of the same breeds. All breeds are the 
result of careful and judicious crossing, and any attempt to improve a 
flock of purebred fowls by crossing is to incur the risk of destroying all 
the desirable characteristics obtained only after years of patient industry 
and skillful selection. 



Parents of the Egg. 



17 



"It should not be overlooked that each breed possesses only one 
dominant trait, or talent. It may combine several desirable characteristics, 
but it will excel in one only. No breed is perfect, as it will surely be 
found lacking in some respect. For instance, the prolificacy of certain 
breeds may be offset by lack of hardiness, exceedingly large combs, very 
small size, inability to endure confinement, etc., while the breeds preferred 
in market may not equal some others as layers. 

"When two purebred fowls are crossed — that is, when birds of different 
breeds are mated — such breeding cannot possibly add to the progress more 
than is possessed by the parent individuals. The crossing of Leghorn and 
Brahma fowls does not prove beneficial, for the reason that such a cross is 
not only what may be termed a 'violent' one, but the progeny is not a non- 
sitter, like its Leghorn parent, does not possess greater activity than the 
Leghorn, nor it is as hardy as the Brahma, losing in size as well as in 
adaptability to exist under the same condi- 
tions as either parent. A cross of Ham- 
burg and Leghorn (within non-sitting 
breeds) made by me, produced progeny 
with persistent inclination to become 
broody, while every attempt to secure 
vigor, hardiness, improved market quality, 
or prolificacy, by crossing dozens of 
breeds, in various matings and selections, 
has always failed to give me satisfactory 
results. It is better to rely upon pure 
breeds, and select them especially for the purpose one may have in view, 
as each breed will be found adapted for accomplishing certain objects more 
than others. 

"Crossing is always disastrous to him who abandons the pure breeds. 
The next generation (if the cross-bred fowls are used) produces nonde- 
scripts, having no uniformity of color, size, or characteristics, seemingly 
reverting to all the ancestors in their breeding, the whole being a motley 
lot, on a par with scrubs. The first cross of two purebred fowls usually 
shows the progeny to resemble the male parent in general appearance, 
rather than the female, and the points of excellence of the parents are 
lost rather than intensified. My experience has been that no one has ever 
attempted the crossing of pure breeds who did not eventually find his flock 
composed of scrubs, and crossing has done more to disgust admirers of 
poultry than anything else, as by so doing they destroy the beauty of their 
flocks and gain nothing from a utilitarian standpoint. If one wishes to 
add vigor and hardiness to the members of his flock he can do so by pro- 
curing males from other well-known sources, while even the common flock- 
may be improved by the use of purebred males every year." 




Fig. 6. 
■CHEAP JOHN" TRAP NEST. 



CHAPTER IV. 
What . is an Egg ? 

The egg is the first stage in the reproduction of birds. Its function 
primarily is to produce offspring, secondarily to furnish food for the 
embryo and for man. The hen therefore fulfills dual purposes which in 
a measure are antagonistic in their requirements. The first demand of 
nature is that the hen shall produce eggs that possess all the qualities ot 
life and nutrition necessary to produce strong chickens; the second, that 
she shall furnish eggs good to eat and lots of them. In order to satisfy 
the commercial requirements of man the hen often is compelled to sacri- 
fice the higher demands of nature. It becomes a vital question therefore 
for every poultryman to decide to what extent he can force heavy lay- 
ing without sacrificing the fertility of the eggs or the vitality of the 
chickens. It is well, then, that we inquire what an egg is and how it is 
formed. 

HOW THE EGG IS MADE.— The first stage in the development of 
the egg is the formation of the "yolk." The "ovary" or "egg cluster," 
which forms a part of the muscular tissue on the left side of the 
spine, contains many yolks in various stages of development, depending 
upon the condition of the hen, from the full-sized ripe yolk ready to bt 
detached, to the microscopic cells so small that they cannot be discerned 
by the naked eye. Within this ovarian tissue is the power to develop 
countless other yolks not yet apparent. The number of these yolks or 
"ova," which may be developed, is not a fixed quantity, certainly not 
exactly 600, as is frequently stated. The number of eggs which a hen 
will lay depends upon the inherited tendency of each hen to reproduce, and 
upon her vigor and vitality to withstand the heavy drain upon her system. 
The ovary of certain hens is absolutely sterile. Others have the power to 
produce a few eggs in short litters, while some have an ovary so strong 
and reproductive that they lay almost without interruption, and continue 
to do so for years. The egg-laying power is a matter of inheritance. It 
is a question of selection and breeding, and of stimulating the ovaries 
to activity by proper feeding. 

Fig. 1, next page, shows ovary of a hen; 2 is the yolk held within 
the ovisac or follicle (5). When the yolk is fully ripe it bursts from the 
follicle and drops into the neck of the oviduct (7). Here we see a wise 
provision nf nature. In order to prevent rupture of blood vessels where 
the follicle opens, there is a suture mark around the entire surface, where 
the blood vessels meet but do not cross (4). If for any reason the folli- 



What Is An Egg? 



19 



cle is ruptured before it is matured, through rough handling of the fowl 
or because of weakness due to debility, a slight clot of blood escapes, 
which remains on the surface of the yolk or mingles with the white, which 
leads the consumer to suspect an egg which is perfectly fresh to have 
been slightly incubated. Occasionally, when hens are in perfect laying 
condition, two yolks will ripen and burst their follicles at the same time, 




Fig. 7. DEVELOPMENT OP A HEN'S EGG. 



20 



The Business Hen. 



and be encased within the same shell, producing a double yolked egg. It 
is perfectly apparent then that if the yolk is the first part of the egg to 
be formed that all the conditions for its development must be met, or the 
hen cannot make the egg. The activity of development of the ovary 
depends first upon good health. The hen in the best laying condition is 
in the best health. Reproduction is a question of nerve strength which is 
dependent upon physical vigor. The over-fat hen does not lay well, 
because over-fatness is softness and weakness, which ends in debility. A 

poor hen cannot 
lay because there 
is no surplus fat 
with which to 
make the egg. An- 
alysis of the yolk 
of an egg shows 
it about one-half 
fat. Unless the 
fowl can sup- 
ply the available 
fat the yolk can- 
not develop. 
Therefore it will 
be found that the 
hens in their best 
laying condition 
will have a little 
surplus fat in their 
body. 

When the yolk 
has entered the 
oviduct it is quick- 
ly passed along 

where the albu- 
FORMS OP EGGS. men Qr „ whhe „ ; g 

deposited (10). During the passage it is pushed forward by the con- 
traction of the muscles of the oviduct, which, being twisted and convoluted, 
gives the yolk a turning motion as it advances, so that the albumen is 
deposited in several layers. These layers may be seen by examining care- 
fully a hard-boiled egg. The twisting motion of the yolk in its passage 
causes twisted string-like fibres of albumen to form on two sides of the 
yolk. These are called the "chalazae," Fig. 3 (5). They cause the yolk to 
swing in the watery albumen like a hammock. This tends to prevent 
injury to the yolk by any jarring or jolting which the egg may receive. 




What Is An Egg? 21 

Whatever way the egg is turned the yolk quickly assumes its natural 
position. The yolk, containing a large amount of fat, is lighter than 
the albumen, therefore has a tendency 'to float at the surface, which during 
incubation allows the young germ of life, which is on the surface of the 
lightest portion of the yolk, to float in the warmest portion of the egg, 
which is in contact with the body of the incubating hen. 

The yolk is covered by the "vitelline" membrane (11). The yellow 
liquid within the membrane is called the "vitellus," which is used for the 
most part to nourish the young chicken just before and for several days 
after it hatches. The color of the yolk depends upon the kind of food fed. 
Yellow corn and green food produce a deep colored yolk, while oats, 
wheat and buckwheat produce a light yellow, due to the absence of color- 
ing pigment in the grain. One of the first signs of weakened vitality in 
hens is a tenderness of the vitelline membrane, which often ruptures when 
eggs are roughly handled. This allows the vitellus to escape and mingle 
with the white. The yolks therefore of perfectly fresh eggs from such 
hens will rupture even when the egg is carefully broken. Keeping eggs 
weakens the vitelline membrane. 

Just under the vitelline membrane, and at the surface of the yolk, is 
the "germinal vesicle," Fig. 1 (12), the vital life principle of the egg. With- 
out fecundation by the male no life would be developed in the germinal 
vesicle, and the egg would be infertile. If fecundation should take place 
and the hen should not be in vigorous condition, life would not necessarily 
be developed. Infertility is due quite as much to lack of vital force of 
the hen, because of close confinement, excessive laying or improper feed- 
ing as to any fault of the male. 

Fecundation cannot take place until the yolk has burst from the 
tough skin of the follicle, Fig. 1 (5), has entered the oviduct, Fig. 1 (7). 
Here it comes in contact with the "spermatozoa" of the male, which there 
swarm and live for several weeks, growing less numerous and less active 
with age. The spermatozoa penetrate the vitelline membrane, unite with 
the germinal vesicle and life is begun. If the egg should be retained 
for any considerable time, which often happens, the body heat will start 
the process of incubation, which will continue until the egg is placed in 
a temperature too cold for development. Eggs which are not fertile will 
therefore continue without danger of incubation in a temperature that 
would allow life to develop with a fertile egg. 

After the albumen has been secreted in the part of the oviduct, Fig. 1 
(9), it is pushed along to a point where the shell membrane is formed, it is 
supposed somewhere at or between 13 — 14 Fig. 1, after which another 
membrane is added. Then the egg passes to position marked 14 Fig. 1, 
and Fig. 2 (2), where the glands secrete a liquid which contains carbonate 
of lime and other mineral matters. This hardening process is completed 



22 The Business Hen. 

frequently while the hen is on the nest. A color pigment is sometimes 
secreted with the shell-making liquid, which gives to eggs their character- 
istic colors. The color of the shell is largely an individual characteristic, 
and remains practically constant with the individual, except that the egg 
shell gradually fades in color toward the end 01 the laying period. This is 
particularly noticeable in comparing the first and the last eggs laid by 
turkeys. The shell-making fluid appears to be secreted by tiny ducts, 
which leave their impression by numerous fine depressions or pores in 
the egg shell, which can be easily seen by close inspection. The importance 
of providing mineral matter in the form of cracked oyster shell, mortar 
and bone is seen in the fact that if the hen lacks these materials or through 
debility cannot assimilate them, her eggs will be soft-shelled. Naturally, 
when the egg production has drained her system of this material, her 
appetite craves it, and if it is not otherwise supplied, she will instinctively 
eat the egg shells. This is the most common cause of egg eating. 

When the egg rests in the "cloaca," Fig. 2 (4), before being laid, it is 
covered with a secretion that assists in the depositing of the egg, which 
when dry gives the shell its natural fresh appearance, and which undoubt- 
edly has much to do with controlling the evaporation of the egg contents. 
Therefore eggs for hatching should not be washed unless it be to remove 
dirt which would materially stop the pores in the shell. This oily coating 
is particularly apparent on duck eggs. 

It is to be doubted whether a hen can voluntarily stop the formation 
of an egg up to the point of its completion. But she can retain the egg 
at will for considerable time thereafter. It is perfectly certain, however, 
that improper feeding, neglect, fright or any condition that interferes with 
digestion or peace of mind will stop the process of egg-making in any 
of its stages. Frequently the white is deposited without yolk or shell. 
It is very common to find eggs devoid of shell, and occasionally a yolk 
will be laid without shell or albumen. It is not uncommon to find an egg 
with white and shell complete without the yolk. In rare instances a per- 
fect egg has been found within an egg. This is brought about by the 
completed egg being forced back by injury through the portion of the 
oviduct where additional albumen is secreted and then returning to the 
place where a new shell is deposited. When the egg evaporates, the outer 
membrane, Fig. 3 (3), continues to adhere to the shell, while the inner 
membrane follows the contents of the egg as it shrinks in size, thus form- 
ing the air space, which is usually at the large end of the egg, occasion- 
ally on the side and rarely on the small end. 

The shape of the egg is determined by the form of the mold in which 
it is cast, which differs with breeds, varieties, and even with individuals 
of the same strain. The form of egg peculiar to an individual remains 
practically constant, so much so that one can pick out an egg from certain 



What Is An Egg? 



23 



hens from a large flock with quite a degree of certainty, purely by the 
shape of the egg. i he groups of eggs shown in Figs. 8-11 show this point 
very accurately. The eggs marked (a) were laid by hen No. 56; those 
at (b) by hen No. 148, both White Wyandottes ; those at (c) by hen 
No. 70; those at (d) by hen No. 75, both Single Comb White Leghorns; 




Fig. 9. FORMS OF EGGS. 



those at (e) were laid by a White Plymouth Rock; those at (f) by a 
Barred Plymouth Rock. It will be seen that each hen has a type of egg 
which is peculiarly her own, differing only slightly from day to day, ex- 
cept in a case of abnormality due to some unusual condition. The eggs 



24 



The Business Hen. 



marked a, b, c, and d, were picked out of a large tray full of eggs which 
were laid by different hens. The selection was made strictly upon their 
shape and color without looking at the number of the hen, which is 
marked on the large end of the egg when it is gathered. The peculiar 




Pig. 10. FORMS OF EGGS. 



characteristics distinguishing the egg were so marked that scarcely any 
error was made guessing the identity of the hen that laid them. The eggs 
marked (a) were distinguishable by their large size, extreme length and 



What Is An Egg? 



25 



rich uniform light 
brown color ; eggs 
marked (b) by their 
perfect egg shape, 
large size and dark 
brown color ; eggs 
marked (c) by their 
long, thin form with 
a tendency to a slight 
ridge in the center; 
eggs marked (d) by 
their almost abnor- 
mal roundness ; eggs 
marked (e) by the 
peculiar wart-like ex- 
crescence on the small 
end of each egg. 

Abnormal eggs are 
due either to injury 
to the fowl while the 
egg is being formed 
or to faulty nutrition. 
The cuts represent 
various types of ab- 
normal eggs, (a) and 
(1) are too long; 
(m), (e) and (o) too 
round; (k) is wedge 
shaped; (o) has a de- 
cided ridge at the 
center; (f) and (q) 
are flattened on one 
side ; those marked 
(j) are elliptical; (i) 

are almost cylindrical; (a) is drawn out at the point; (p) are eggs with 
rough, weak shells ; (g) is as round as a marble and about the size of a 
hickorynut; (h) is about the same size, but elongated; those marked (r) 
represent the two extremes, a double-yolked egg and a diminutive but 
perfect shaped egg. These small eggs are nearly always devoid of yolks. 
It does not follow that a hen that lays a diminutive egg has laid similar 
eggs previously or that she will do so again. Eggs marked (g) were all 
laid by the Single Comb White Leghorn hen No. 85 ; those marked (h) 
were laid by the Single Comb White Leghorn hen No. 82, the two 




Fig. 11. FORMS OF EGGS. 



26 " The Business Hen. 

normal eggs in each case being laid a few days after the abnormal. The 
abnormality, however, may continue. One hen laid seven diminutive 
tggs continuously and then stopped laying. Of the five eggs marked (a), 
Fig. 10, the first two eggs which are perfect and normal were followed by 
the abnormal long-drawn-out egg which was so weak at the point that 
it scarcely retained the egg contents. Within two or three days follow- 
ing the other two eggs were laid which were perfectly normal and sound. 

Just how long it takes for each part of the egg to be secreted is 
not known. The whole process is supposed to take about 18 hours. Con- 
siderable time is taken for the shell to be deposited and to harden. Two 
eggs can be under way at the same time. When the hen is not laying the 
oviduct is shrunken and not more than one-fifth its natural size. Like all 
secretory glands, the oviduct enlarges with the activity of the organ. In 
this one respect it may be compared with the udder of a cow "fresh in 
milk" and one "gone dry." The oviduct when stretched out and congested 
is normally a little over 20 inches long. 

The development of an egg is more elaborate and more exhaustive than 
a simple secretion like that of milk-making. It is both a reproductive and 
a secretory process. The perfect egg contains the materials and the life 
to form a new animal, a shell to protect it during subsequent develop- 
ment, and the food to nourish it for several days after it is born. A good 
hen is expected to lay, that is, to give birth to, about 150 offspring in a 
year, which is equivalent to about five times her own weight. This is 
a heavy drain upon her system. Something of its immediate effect will 
be seen by the fact ascertained by one of our students (Henry Jennings) 
that a hen's temperature immediately after laying is from two to three 
degrees higher than normal, the normal being about 106. 

The composition of the egg remains practically constant. This is 
true even under different systems of feeding. Careful observation of two 
pens of Plymouth Rock hens was made and the eggs analyzed after 
they had been fed about three months on radically different rations. 
Pen one was fed largely on protein-rich foods ; pen two was fed largely 
on foods deficient in protein, the former being a ration for making muscle 
and the latter for making fat. Nevertheless the eggs from the two pens 
remained practically identical in composition. This illustrates one of the 
highest laws of nature, namely, that the animal will sacrifice its own bodily 
strength in order to make a perfect offspring, which is a necessary pro- 
vision to insure the perpetuation of the species. There is little difference 
in the composition of eggs from different breeds, or between light-shelled 
and dark-shelled eggs. 

There is a difference between hens that are well fed and those that 
are improperly fed, as shown in their fertility, the strength of the germs 
and the vitality of the chickens. The chemist may not be able to find it 



What Fs An Egg? 27 

in the composition, but the difference is there nevertheless. Hens that are 
closely confined to limited quarters where they do not get exercise nor 
have access to sunshine and fresh air, even though well fed, are almost 
certain to produce eggs low in fertility and weak in vitality. Over-fat 
hens and very poor hens, if they lay at all, are certain to produce eggs 
which are almost devoid of the life-giving principles. 

While forced feeding of highly stimulating foods during Fall and 
Winter might result in a condition of nerve exhaustion during the hatch- 
ing season and would naturally result in less fertile eggs, it does not 
follow that just because hens do not lay during Fall and Winter that 
they will give more fertile eggs during the Spring. Most frequently the 
hens that do not lay during the Winter have not been properly cared for, 
they being either too fat from over-feeding or improper feeding, or too 
poor because underfed. The fowl that lays the most fertile eggs is the 
one that is in the best health. She may be the hen that has laid regularly 
for a long period of time. To get fertile eggs, open-air exercise and 
plenty of meat and green food are necessary. 

The proportion of males to females in the breeding of flock depends 
upon the breed, also upon the individual. One vigorous, active, prepotent 
male will give greater fertility than three or four sluggish, effeminate 
males. I have known almost perfect fertility with 36 White Leghorn 
females to one male, and have seen almost absolute infertility where one 
male ran with 15 females. Other conditions being equal, the Mediter- 
ranean, Leghorns, Minorcas, etc.. class can usually be mated 20 to 25 
females to one male; the American class (Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, 
Javas, etc.) 15 to 20 females to one male; Asiatic (Cochins, Brahmas, etc.) 
10 to 15 females to one male. Where fowls are kept in flocks wkich 
require two males (for instance, 40 or 50 Leghorn females,) it is better 
to allow only one of the males at a time with the flock. The other one 
should be kept in a coop with plenty of water, grit and food containing 
an abundance of meat. Two males running together in the same flock 
dissipate too much of their energy in fighting. This is particularly true if 
they are in limited quarters. Very good results, however, are obtained 
by allowing one male to 25 females where fowls run together in flocks of 
several hundred on unlimited range. 

The shape, size and color of the egg being comparatively constant with 
individuals, it is evident that like other characteristics they can be trans- 
mitted from one generation to another, and therefore by selecting only 
eggs of a certain size, shape and color for hatching, their characteristics 
become fixed so that a strain of hens will be developed which will lay 
eggs of the desired type with great regularity. This has been demon- 
strated in my own experience, where for years we have used only eggs that 
weigh two ounces or more, of perfect shape, pure white color, for hatching. 



28 The Business Hen. 

Each year the percentage of hatchable eggs has astonishingly increased, 
and the number cf eggs which would have to be thrown out because of 
not fulfilling the requirements has materially decreased. The result is that 
the average size and beauty of the egg has materially increased year by 
year. This principle was strikingly illustrated during my boyhood days on 
the old farm, where my aunt, who took charge of the hens believed that 
round eggs would hatch pullets and long eggs slightly wrinkled at the 
small end would hatch cockerels. For years she would select the round- 
est eggs for hatching, with the result that year by year our eggs became 
rounder and rounder, until they were abnormally so, and it became almost 
a trade mark of the eggs from my grandfather's farm. Of course the 
per cent of pullets continued as usual. Wise Mother Nature could not be 
thwarted so easily. The sex of an egg cannot be determined by its shape 
or by any other external conditions. 

It is well to select only perfectly shaped eggs, uniform in color, of 
good texture and firm shell, neither over large nor very small, because they 
will be more apt to produce chickens that lay similar eggs, which look 
better, and therefore sell for a higher price, and which also hatch more 
satisfactorily. Eggs which differ in size get different degrees of heat in 
the incubators, because the larger the egg the warmer it will become, it 
being closer the source of heat above. The more uniform eggs are in tex- 
ture of shell the more uniformly they evaporate moisture. Eggs, like 
milk, being a direct secretion of the blood, are affected in color, flavor and 
odor by the foods consumed. 

Keeping eggs weakens their vitality. If they are held at too low a 
temperature the chilling injures them. If they are kept in too warm a 
temperature, development begins. Just what temperature is best for hold- 
ing eggs for hatching is not known. It appears to be between 55 and 65 
degrees Fahrenheit. Eggs evaporate moisture very rapidly if kept in 
a very dry room. Therefore they should be kept from a direct draft of 
air. They should be turned daily in order to prevent the yolks rising 
to the surface and adhering to the shell, in which case the vitelline mem- 
brane may become ruptured when the egg is turned. Eggs should prove 
fertile within three or four days after the male has been introduced to the 
flock. They should be fertile with the second egg after copulation takes 
place and may be fertile with the first egg. 



CHAPTER V. 
Hatching the Egg. 

WHAT IS INCUBATION?— A barnyard hen of the larger breeds 
will, if left to herself with enough food, "steal her nest." She finds some 
secluded place, makes a shallow hole and lays a clutch of eggs in it. She 
then sits on the eggs, leaving them at intervals for water and food and 
to dust herself, until they are hatched. It is sometimes asked why such 
a hen, operating in this crude way, will hatch more and stronger chicks 
than an incubator, or than most hens when put on selected eggs in a com- 
fortable nest. The chicks from the stolen nest are generally uniform be- 
cause they are likely to be all from one hen ; thus they are sure to be 
much alike, and more likely to be fertile than when picked from a flock. 
They are strong because the hen works for her food, roaming about the 
farm picking up a variety, and exercising so as not to be too fat or dumpy. 
Left to herself, too, the hen lays eggs in her stolen nest just when they are 
most likely to be suitable for hatching. Thus she sets an example in feed- 
ing, selection and breeding. In trying to breed improved stock man 
attempts to imitate the barnyard hen, and at the same time increase the 
number of her eggs and make sure of her mating. In the same way when 
we build an incubator we try to imitate the hen by putting the eggs in 
a box in a chamber where they may be surrounded by the conditions of 
heat and moisture which the hen puts around her eggs in the nest. 

A broody hen is fat. The organ of incubation is developed. This organ 
is a network of veins on the lower part of the hen's body. At the time 
of hatching, that is, when the hen becomes "broody," these veins enlarge 
and carry more blood, so that a warmer surface is presented to the eggs than 
would be the case if the hen were not broody. The hen's feathers permit 
a slight circulation of air to the eggs, and some little moisture comes from 
her body. The hen leaves her nest at times, or stands up and shakes 
herself, thus cooling the eggs. She also moves the eggs about from time 
to time. It is a question whether the hen does this because she knows it 
is necessary, or because she tries to arrange the eggs so as to make the 
nest most comfortable. In artificial incubation it has been found best to 
turn the eggs frequently, the chief reason given for doing so being that if 
the eggs are not turned the germs may dry fast to the shells early in 
the hatch. 

In artificial incubation we attempt, to surround the eggs with temper- 
ature and moisture such as the hen gives them from her body. Under 
the influence of a steady, gentle heat the life in the egg develops rapidly 
and in perfect order. An incubator cannot think, and the best of man's 



30 The Business Hen. 

thoughts can hardly equal the instinct of the hen. Yet after long experi- 
ence and observation a poultryman comes to acquire an instinct nearly 
equal to that of the hen. We do not attempt to give here a scientific 
essay on incubation. A few practical rules follow, but we know from 
experience that this is one of the operations that a man must grow into 
by his own study and practice. Some natural mechanics have made incu- 
bators of their own which give fair satisfaction, but our advice is to buy 
a good one rather than to tinker with a home-made affair. There is no 
other machine now offered for sale which is so fully explained in the 
catalogues of manufacturers, and one can hardly go wrong if he will 
follow the advice given him there. It is a wise plan, when starting with 
an incubator, to set a hen and compare the eggs under her with those in 
the incubator. Where this is done day by day we get a clearer idea of the 
way our incubator eggs should "test." While an egg can be tested by 
an expert by holding it up in a dark room before a light, it is better foi 
the beginner to obtain a "tester" made for the purpose. As all know, the 
egg is tested by holding it, surrounded by a dark background, before a 
flame, so that the light will shine through it. The light of the candle or 
lamp reveals to us, in the egg, what the X-Ray does in the human body ! 

HATCHING UNDER HENS.— There are many poultrymen who de- 
pend upon hens to hatch most of their chicks, in spite of the ease with 
which incubators are handled. When given a tair chance the hen does not 
need regulating. The hens of the larger breeds lay their clutch of eggs and 
then show by their actions that they are ready to sit. Everyone who has 
handled hens knows how they act when broody. They get on the nest, 
ruffle up their feathers, come as near as they can to growling when ap- 
proached, and strike with their bills. The whole nature of the hen changes, 
and if she be given a comfortable nest with the eggs that she can cover 
with her body she will usually stay by them until they are hatched. Mr. 
Cosgrove, of Connecticut, gives the following account of his method of 
handling sitting hens: 

"I have a little house 6 x 10 feet, with two rows of nests, one row 
above the other; the ground forms the bottom of the lower nests, and in 
the upper ones I put a large shovelful of sifted earth, pushing it up into 
the corners so as to make it concave enough to keep the eggs together, 
but not too much so. If the center is an inch lower than the outside edge, 
it is sufficient. A board six inches wide by 10 feet long forms the front 
of the nests, so the hens can step into them; they do not have to jump 
down on to the eggs. 

"The earth floor of the house dug up. and the stones taken out, makes 
the best dust bath, and a feed trough and water pail are all the furniture 
required. I keep feed in the trough all the time, also some grit and oyster 
shells in one end of it. The trough is made with a cover to it so the hens 



Hatching the Egg. '•>! 

can stick their heads in to cat, but cannot soil the food. Whole corn 
is the main feed, but I give some wheat with it once or twice a week for 
variety. Some people have, a great deal of trouble to make hens sit in 
any place except where they have been laying, but if the change of place is 
done rightly there is seldom any difficulty. 

"Don't move them in the daytime. Don't take them by the legs and 
carry them along with heads handing down and thrust them in on the 
nests, as I have seen folks do — carrying three in each hand — and then 
expect them to stay put. 

"I save the unhatched eggs from my incubators to put in nests to try 
the hens on. Let the hen sit at least two days on her own nest before you 
move her where you want her to sit ; then after dark take the hen and 
put her gently on the eggs. She will usually settle down on them at once 
and stay on all night, but may come off in the morning and stay off all day, 
but will generally go on the nest at night, and then it is safe to put the 
good eggs under. If she does not go back on the nest at night, it is no 
use trying that hen any further. It doesn't pay to try to confine the hen 
on the nest ; a hen is feminine, and if she won't, she won't. 

"My sitting house has three windows facing the nests, which make it too 
light, so I tack grain bags over the windows, as hens like a secluded place 
better. I give all sitting hens a thorough dusting with insect powdei 
and scatter some in the nests before setting, and again about a week before 
they are due to hatch. When the hens are sitting it is necessary to look 
at them once or twice a day to see that all the nests have hens on, for 
sometimes two get on the same nest, but don't be discouraged if the eggs 
are cold; they will usually hatch just as well; it will delay the hatch, that 
is all. 

"Of course hens may be allowed to sit where they have been laying, by 
marking the eggs put under them, and removing the eggs laid to them 
every day, but there is considerable risk of broken eggs, also that the 
sitter may be driven off and go on some other nest. In some cases the 
nests in the 'sitting room' are made double; that is, they are deep, with 
a partition at the center. The eggs are put in the rear part. The hen 
may if she likes get off the nest and come in front. Thus a hen that is 
tired of sitting is less likely to break her eggs. The nests are sometimes 
closed with a gate, so that the hen is shut in, being let out once a day for 
a few minutes to eat and drink and dust." 

Hens of the larger breeds will sometimes remain broody for three 
months. They will frequently hatch out two and three broods in succes- 
sion—the chicks being taken away, and put in a brooder. Where a number 
of hens are set together it is a good plan to test the eggs as we do those in 
an incubator. By taking out the infertile eggs we can put what is left 
under part of the hens and start the others on a new lot. 



32 The Business Hen. 

BREAKING UP A BROODY HEN.— With the larger breeds the 
sitting hen becomes a nuisance in May or June. They often become 
broody too late in the season to rear chicks for Fall laying. To "break 
them up" we must remember that they are in a feverish condition, with 
the blood vessels on the lower part of the body enlarged. They must be 
"cooled off." Do not duck them in water or tie them by one leg or put 
them in a box with sharp spikes in the bottom. Make a "hen jail" at the 
side of the henhouse — raised above the floor. Have the bottom of slats, 
so that the air circulates under the hen. Put her there with water and 
grass, but no corn. She will soon find that there are no chickens to be 
hatched out of a slat, and she will keep off the nests where the other hens 
lay. This is far better than putting the hen in a yard with a young dog 
or a lively cockerel to chase her about. As the broody hen is fat do not 
feed her on the fattening foods. 

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION.— It is well to start the season's labors 
with a firm faith in our incubators, and that success or failure in results 
rests with ourselves. 

1. The hens whose eggs we use for hatching should be healthy young 
fowls, and best returns are generally received where a single strain is 
employed. In a mixed lot the shells are of all grades in thickness; con- 
sequently some are apt to dry down too much, and others not enough. For 
example, the White Wyandotte eggs require much more ventilation than 
do White Leghorns. 

2. The eggs should be set on the small end and turned half over every 
24 hours. They should be placed in a cool, dry, clean, sweet-smelling 
room. Hens' eggs, if carefully looked after, will keep for hatching pur- 
poses three to four weeks. During the cool Spring days duck eggs, under 
same conditions, will keep 10 days to two weeks. When warm weather 
sets in they spoil very quickly ; in from four days to a week's time. 

As a rule incubators do best in a clean, well ventilated cellar, because 
(he temperature is likely to run more even, thus giving the operator less 
trouble, and also because the atmosphere contains a moist, humid element, 
favorable to the growth and development of the chicks in embryo. 

The instructions regarding setting up and operating, which accompany 
the incubator, cannot be too carefully studied and followed. There is 
usually, however, a clause concerning ventilation and moisture, which 
necessarily leaves much to the operator's good sense and judgment, because, 
owing to the difference in climatic conditions in our country, which tend 
to affect the results in artificial incubation, no cut and dried rule can be 
laid down or successfully applied. 

Where these conditions are normal, general directions on these heads 
are all that the operator requires; but in low-lying sections and near lakes 
or large rivers, where fogs or humidity prevails, very little additional 



Hatching the Egg. 33 

moisture, and considerable ventilation are necessary ; while in a rarified 
atmosphere, elevated or mountainous localities, a very considerable amount 
of moisture is necessary to secure even a fair hatch, and not nearly so 
much ventilation. The tea kettle or the drying of the roads are good 
guides for evaporation and moisture. Also, in the same locality, there 
are times when a change of method is necessary, as in sustained droughts, 
when high, dry winds prevail, or during a long wet season, etc. If the 
machine is run in a living room, more moisture is needed, and in every 
case good care should be taken to keep the chicks well supplied with pure, 
fresh air, by ventilating the room thoroughly at least twice a day, night 
and morning, when the eggs are being turned. Kerosene odors and 
exhausted air are very injurious to the hatch. 

From the above it will be seen that the climate and atmospheric condi- 
tions must be studied and the rig managed accordingly. If the chicks 
hatch small and look shrunken, and the inner skin sticks to some and outer 
skin is thick and leathery, they had insufficient moisture and too much 
ventilation. If they simply failed to break the shell, the birds were weak- 
ened by insufficient ventilation, and, perhaps, also, a wrong temperature. 
If the birds are surrounded — "swim" — in a gluey, watery substance, too 
much moisture was applied. If they come out ahead of time, the temper- 
ature was run too high; if they run over time, it was too low. If during 
the hatch, through accident, the thermometer registers high for several 
hours, the hatch will probably be hurried out a little, while if it is low, 
especially during the first five days, the hatch will drag along, even four 
days after due. It is best to hang on to the eggs until hope is utterly dead. 
A bath in tepid water helps such cases quite a bit, and those that "wiggle" 
are apt to come out; give them time, and with care they will develop 
usually into healthy chicks. 

Regarding testing of eggs, and growth of air cells, dark-colored shells 
do not show fertility very plainly until the hatch is about half over. 
Usually in five days the germ is quite plain in white or thin-shelled eggs, 
but it is well to place the doubtful ones together and give them one more 
chance. About two days before exclusion at the final test, all that do not 
show full development should be discarded. A very little experience will 
enable the operator to detect the little black, spider-like form with red 
pulses, and the gradual darkening of the egg as development progresses ; 
the clear beauty of the infertile egg, and wavy, watery, cloudy appearance 
of the bad one ; the red ring or black splotch of the dead germ. 

As regards the growth of the air cell, our experience is that no com- 
bination of circumstances, in our section, will coax them to enlarge in 
the regular fashion shown in books. With us, two-thirds of the drying 
down is done the last week. If everything has gone well, the eggs dry 
down during those last few days about right ; if anything has gone wrong 



34 The Business Hen. 

they show it then, either by drying down too much, or not enough. 
Therefore there is no need to worry about the air cell ; it will take care of 
itself, and it cannot be used as a guide for the application of moisture or 
ventilation ; as it opens up too late to be of any use to the operator. Also, 
if the chicks are vigorous, they will kick out of the shell with quite a 
small air space, while weak birds fail to escape from those that are dried 
down to "regulation." 

It is best to trim and fill the lamps in the morning, and regulate the 
machine then, for the next 24 hours. Never touch the lamp at night. 
Turn the eggs early. 

While chicks are usually all out of the shell 24 hours after the first 
pip is noticed, ducks require 48 hours to finish up in. We say "the hatch 
is over," and are ready to open and clean up when most of the birds that 
we see are fully out of the shell and dried off. If partially liberated birds 
that are sticking to the shell at some point can be found at just the right 
time — not too soon or too late — they can be saved. Just how much this 
sort of assistance pays it is difficult to say. The writer helped 22 duck- 
lings out once, and tied a red string to the leg of each ; and so far as 
one could keep track of the gang, they survived and throve with the best of 
the lot. It seems well therefore to give the little fellows any chance for 
life that we can, though undoubtedly the best way is to "get the right flop" 
on managing the incubator and let it do the hatching. 

Just before "opening up" prepare everything for a quick shift — an 
assistant, pan of hot water, two flannel cloths, and let the temperature 
run up to 106 or 107. Take out a tray and clean off all but pipped eggs, 
and help the birds out, placing them on the wet flannej spread on the 
tray; add to them the same sort of eggs from the other tray. Promptly 
replace it in the incubator, and the other flannel steaming hot anywhere 
inside the rig. Get the temperature to 104 T {. degrees quickly as possible. 
A few hours more and the birds will probably all be liberated. If a 
chipped egg has a live chick in it, you can hear its bill tapping on the shell 
if you place it to your ear. 

When eggs are shipped from a distance, if duck eggs, they cannot be 
got into the incubator or under the hen too soon. If hen or turkey eggs, 
they should be placed in a quiet, cool place till required, but 24 hours is 
long enough to hold them. 

Though nearly all incubators on the market can be made to produce 
fair hatches, there is a great difference in the amount of time and care 
needed to secure them. This is due to the variety of contrivances 
employed to regulate the heat in the egg chamber. The incubator, there- 
fore, of most value to the operator, is the one that has the most simply 
constructed, conservative and accurate regulator. There are machines 
that will hold the heat steady for nearly a week without the operator's 



Hatching the Egg. 35 

help, and at considerable fluctuation in outside atmosphere. The need 
therefore for bobbing up and down nights to watch refractory hatches is 
practically past. If — through any accident — the heat runs up too high, 
when regulating it back to normal figures, it helps the eggs to cool with 
least injury, it they are well sprinkled with tepid water. The incubator 
doors can be left open till the thermometer registers 90 degrees. In all 
cases and at all times of handling them drafts should be avoided over the 
eggs, and sudden jars. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHICK— We have seen tuat a ferule 
egg is not a shell packed with a loose and unorganized fluid. It contains 
definite organs and the material required to feed and develop them into 
a living chick. When the proper beat is applied in the incubator or under 
the ben life begins and develops rapidly until the last of the yolk in the 
egg is passed into the body of the well-formed chick before it leaves the 
shell. Before 12 hours of incubation the germ begins to increase in size, 
and so rapidly does the development go on that by the end of the first 
day what is to be the head of the chick can be cjuite plainly seen. A few 
hours later the tail of the chick is apparent, to be immediately followed b) 
a tube which later forms the heart. About 40 hours after the incubation 
begins the heart begins to pulsate. The knowledge of this rapid develop- 
ment may not be cheerful reading to those who let the eggs in the nest 
remain for a day or two under a sitting hen, but by the fiftieth hour the 
heart is usually so well developed that the different parts may be seen, and 
10 hours later a vigorous circulation of blood has begun. Before the third 
day has ended the rapidly forming chick is able to turn itself around and 
curve into definite shape. During the fourth day the limbs begin to show. 
They grow so rapidly that by the thirteenth day scales appear upon the legs 
and nails upon the toes, and by the sixteenth day these, as well as the 
beak become firm and bard and the chick can move its limbs. By the 
ninth day the formation of bone begins and goes on rapidly until the 
skeleton is well formed by the thirteenth day. The feathers begin as 
little sacs by the tenth day and develop so that when the chick makes its 
way through the shell it is well feathered. Thus this wonderful and 
rapid development goes on inside the egg. We must remember that the 
power of the delicate machinery which produces the chicks comes from 
its parents. They must be vigorous, well fed. not closely related, and 
able to exercise freely if we expect vigorous chicks. It may seem to the 
novice that the egg hatches itself since the hen is usually successful. He 
will change his views after trying to imitate her with an incubator, and 
also find that he must learn the hen business by experience. 



CHAPTER VI. 



The Chicken's Nurse. 

The beginner with poultry is often discouraged over losses of little 
chicks. Where incubators are used, it is of course impossible to find 
hens to brood the chicks. Hens will sometimes "sit" long enough to hatch 
two broods. Thus several hens can be started at one time and the chicks 
put together in a brooder, more eggs being put under the hens. A brooder 
is a chicken nurse. In using it we try to confine warm air among pieces 
of soft cloth — in imitation of the hen's warm body and soft feathers. 

There are many different kinds of brooders, the best of them so arranged 
that the warm air will come from above, just as the heat of the hen is 
above the chicks. This heat may come from hot water or steam pipes run 
above the chicks, or from kerosene lamps or gas burners below them, with 
the heat forced above. Unless one is a natural mechanic and handy with 
tools he should buy one of the readymade brooders. We would not advise 
one to try to make an incubator, though it has been done, but it is possible 
to make a brooder that will keep the chicks warm and provide them with 
fresh air. The homemade brooder pictured here is known as the "Cos- 
grove" and is described as follows. It will give an idea of the principles 
upon which a hot-air brooder is built. 

HOMEMADE BROODER.— "The material required is an empty one- 
pound coffee can, a two-pound coffee can, a piece of galvanized sheet 
iron 24x36 inches, with a hole in center that will just fit the one-pound 
can, S5 feet of seven-eighths-inch matched pine and six feet of one- 
half-inch pine. Make the four sides of the box nine inches high; that will 
just take in the sheet iron; put strips V&xl inch inside the box two inches 
below top edge, for the sheet iron to rest on. Take the one-pound can 
and cut slits a half inch apart all around the top edge; cut just down to 
where the bulge in the tin is (about one-half inch), put the slit part 

through the sheet iron and bend 
the slit pieces down flat on the 
iron. The bulge prevents the can 
from going through the iron, and 
if the slit pieces are hammered 
down tight it makes nearly an air- 
tight job, but to make sure that 
no fumes from the lamp get above 
the sheet iron it is better to solder 
Fig. 12. HOMEMADE BKOODER. it tight. Place the iron in the box 




The Chicken's Nurse. 



37 




and nail strips on top of iron, 
pressing it down tight on the 
under strips. Nail a floor of 
7 s- inch stuff on top of box, cut- 
ting a hole in center the size 
of the two-pound coffee can ; 
slit the can like the other, bend 
the pieces out and nail on top 
of floor, but first punch the top 
of can full of one-fourth-inch 
holes to let the hot air out. 
Then bore five or six half-inch .Pig. 13. 

holes on the two ends through VAN DRESSER BROODER HOUSE. 

side of box between sheet iron and floor of brooder to let in air; also 
four holes in each end of box one inch in diameter near bottom edge to 
let in air for lamp. The rest is plain carpenter work. Take a piece nine 
inches wide, length of box and nail or screw on back end, letting it come 
down only an inch or so below the edge of box. Then nail on sides, using 
two 2 x 2-inch posts 30 inches long to hold up front end. I line the 
hover part with one-half-inch pine Q l /2 inches wide, nailing on strips at 
top and bottom edge one-half inch square, so that it makes a half-inch air 
space on ends and back. 

"The hover cover of ^-inch stuff rests on this lining and is not 
fastened, can be lifted out to clean out brooder, and as chicks get old 
enough is removed entirely. To the front of hover cover are tacked 
strips of cloth two inches wide, reaching the floor. Some of these cloth 
strips can be turned up on top of cover to let out hot air on warm days. 
On front part of sides bore holes as shown in figure, and make a sliding 
cover so as to close or open these holes. The amount of air entering 
the half-inch holes above sheet iron and passing over chicks is governed 
by these ventilators. The front 
half of roof is screwed to sides 
and front and middle bar. The 
back half is loose and projects 
three inches under front part ; 
can be lifted up as shown by dot- 
ted lines, then by lifting hover 
cover the floor can be easily 
cleaned. 

"The lamps I use have no 
chimneys. Flame of lamp should 

be about two inches below level Fig. 14. 

of sheet iron. Cut a hole in COLD COUNTRY BROODER HOUSE. 




38 



The Business Hen. 




back of box to enter lamp and have a slid- 
ing cover to it. If lamp flame burns dim 
make more holes in side of box, or open 
slide a little. Bore five or six half-inch holes 
in back of box three inches below sheet 
iron to let lamp fumes out, if there are 
an)-. The front, with the exception of a six 
or eight-inch piece nailed to posts at top. 
is an independent piece held in place by 
buttons, and comes out, so the whole in- 
MArES' BROODER HOESE. terior can be got at. Make a frame to hold 
a glass, say 12 x 20 inches (the larger the better), bevel top and bottom 
edge of frame and nail beveled strips at top and bottom, so glass frame 
will slide to make a hole as large or small as you want to feed the chicks 
through. With lamp taking a wick only ? 5-inch wide I have had no 
difficulty in keeping heat in these brooders at 90 to 100 degrees." 

BROODER HOUSES.— We do not attempt to give details for a 
brooder house. No one should try to build a house without visiting one 
in successful operation. The principle is a long, low house divided into 
pens, in each one of which is a brooder — that is, a warm box with hover 
cloths. These brooders are heated by lamps or by hot-water pipes which 
run through the house so as to pass through each brooder. Little runs 
protected by wire netting are made so that the chicks can run out on 
pleasant days. As the chicks grow larger they are taken from this large 
nursery and put outdoors. There is much argument between the advo- 
cates of the large brooder house and those who prefer what is called the 
colony plan. The large house is evidently better in very cold weather, 
and it is less work to care for a given number of chicks when they are 
all in one house. There is greater danger from fire, and also greater dan- 
ger in case of disease among the flock, 'those who use the colony plan 
build a small warm house with a single brooder inside. This is heated 
by a lamp or flame. Gasoline is now being successfully used for this 
purpose. From 50 to 200 little chicks are put in this house, and the heat 
kept up to a point that will make the entire house comfortable. The chicks 
run about in the house, and except in very cold days, do not crowd under 
the hover. On pleasant days they are let out and run on the grass. When 
heat is no longer needed, and the chicks grow large enough, the brooder is 
taken out and little roosts are put in so that the young birds early become 
used to a house. Fig. 13 shows such a house and brooder used by 
Henry Van Dresser, who uses these houses to scatter his chicks through 
the orchards. Fig. 14 shows a colony brooder house used at the Maine 
Experiment Station, where the Winters are very cold and the snow very 
deep. These houses, it must be remembered, have nothing inside but the 



The Chicken's Nurse. 



39 



brooders. Fig. 15 shows a house used by O. W. Mapes, and Fig. 16 a 
house used for young White Leghorns in New Jersey. These houses are 
designed for sheltering the chicks when they are taken from the large 
brooder house. They contain a brooder at first, but as the chicks grow 
larger roosts are put in. The object in arranging these houses is to give 
the pullets a place where 
they may have heat if 
needed, and at the same 
time become used to liv- 
ing in a house, while 
having plenty of exer- 
cise. As we shall see, 
the best breeders separ- 
ate the young roosters 
early and put them by 
themselves. It is abso- 
lutely necessary that 
these brooders and 
brooder houses be kept 
clean. Dirt and vermin 
are far more fatal to lit- 
tle chicks than to grown- 
up hens. We must remember that what is clean to one man may 
be filthy to another. The little chicks are weak and unable to care for 
themselves when they are put in the brooder. Vermin and disease live 
in filth and we cannot be too careful about cleaning the brooders before 
a new lot of chicks are put in. The brooder should be made so that ij: 
opens readily. When a brood has grown so that the chicks can be taken 
away the brooder should be opened and thoroughly scrubbed out with hot 
water. The corners should be smeared with kerosene and the hover 
taken out and carefully gone over. The brooder should, if possible, stand 
open to the sun in order to dry thoroughly before the new chicks are put 
in. These things are emphasized by those who discuss the care of the 
little chicks, but they cannot be made too plain. Those who have seen 
little chicks suffer from damp brooders or seen them suffocated by lamp 
fumes or chilled when the lamp burns too low, or wasted when it goes too 
high, know the necessity of using a competent chicken nurse. 




Fig. 16. NEW JERSEY BROODER HOUSE. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Care of the Baby Chick. 

Neither brooder nor incubator can think. Both require constant atten- 
tion, or the eggs or chicks may be too hot or too cold. The old hen looks 
after her brood, and sees that they are made comfortable. Man must be 
half hen, and let his brooder represent the other half. Even when the 
hen hatches the chicks she cannot be expected to nurse them as a cow 
would nurse a calf! If it is possible to give it the chicks will do better 
with a free range with hen, but hawks, rats and other vermin may get 
too many of the little ones. If these pests are bad the hen may be kept 
in a coop and a frame made for the chicks by placing four 12-inch-wide 
boards on edge with inch-mesh wire netting over the entire top. This gives 
the chicks a run and protects them. Even when free range is possible the 
hen should not be given entire charge until the chicks are strong enough 
to follow without being tired out. Do not think the hen can scratch a 
living for a large family out of the dirt. Give hen and chicks when at 
large at least two feeds a day of grain. The following account of the 
care given the hen and her chicks is given by a successful poutlry keeper: 

HENS AND LITTLE CHICKS.— "My little 'setting' house has nests 
for 16 hens, and I try to set as many at a time as 1 can. When the chicks 
are hatched I take them all out of the nests, put them in a big market 
basket with a warm woollen cloth to cover them, then selecting the hens 
that seem the most anxious about their chicks (for the mother instinct 
varies as much in hens as in human beings, some even picking and killing 
their chicks as fast as hatched) I put the hens in little "A" coops (see Fig. 
17) made with the slats perpendicular, the back boarded up, the upper half 
of back hinged to lower half and held in place by button at top. Made 
in this way the hen can be got at easily, or a dead chick taken out of the 
coop without difficulty, and on a cold windy day the wind does not sweep 
through coop, chilling the chickens, as it does when both ends of the 
coop are slatted. 

"I place two of these coops about 10 feet apart, and connect them by 
two frames, one covered with inch-mesh wire netting for front, and back 
frame covered with half-inch matched boards, with a door at each end, 
so as to get at the front of the coops with feed and water. As the top part 
of the front frame is made of a board a foot wide, thus more than half 
of the runway is kept dry, and the chicks can run around on a rainy day 
without getting wet, and are safe from hawks and 'varmints.' As these 
frames are only fastened to the coops by a nail or screw, they can be 




Care of the Baby Chick. 41 

taken off and stored away in a 

shed in the Fall. When chicks 

are hatched in cold weather I 

put only 15 with each hen; in 

May or last of April I put 20 Fig. 17. HANDY HEN COOP. 

to 25 with each hen. 

"As the chicks are all the same color and age, the liens do not know 
their own chicks, and will take any of them. The chicks remain with the 
hen as long as she will mother them. Sometimes a hen will pick at the 
chicks and drive them away, as soon as she wants to lay eggs again ; 
others will go to laying and continue to brood the chicks. I let them 
remain with the chicks as long as they will, until it becomes very hot 
weather ; then I think the chicks are better off without the hen's heat. 
I feed and water them three times a day, and as soon as the cockerels 
weight two pounds each, send them to the market for broilers, reserving all 
the pullets for layers. 

"The most dangerous enemy of chicks in this locality is the little 
Pigeon hawk, but in June they do not come around so frequently, and 
then I give the chicks the run of the farm. While they are confined 
green food is an absolute necessity if they are to thrive well, and lawn 
clippings furnish this in the best form, especially if cut in the early morn- 
ing while the dew is still on the grass; I tie a box behind the lawn mower 
and the clippings fly into it, so it is no trouble to collect them. Insect 
powder sprinkled on the hen and in the nest freely a week before hatching 
usually drives away all lice. In hot weather, if the chicks and hens run 
together, the chicks will get lousy; then I put some of the powder mixed 
with lard on their heads, if they have head lice, and sprinkle it on their 
bodies if they have body lice, which are very different things. Two or 
three times in tne Summer I whitewash the coops with some crude carbolic 
acid in the whitewash ; this is a good disinfectant as well as insecticide. 
Roosters and pullets all run together until the males begin to pester the 
females, then they are separated and the roosters confined, the pullets 
running at large until snow drives them into confinement. 

THE BROODER CHICK.— "With the first pipping of an egg in my 
incubator I start the lamps under the brooders, that they may be warmed up 
and regulated to 90 degrees before the chicks are ready to be put in. The 
chicks are left in the incubators for 30 to 36 hours after hatching. I 
cover the floors of brooders with sifted sand half an inch deep, laying 
in a supply in the Summer for 
that special use. Taking the 
chicks to the brooder house in a 
big market basket with a 
warmed woollen cloth over p IG . i8. UNFINISHED HEN COOP. 



42 The Business Hen. 

them I take out the front of brooder and put the chicks in, and now they 
have their first feed of hard-boiled eggs, chopped very fine and purposely 
scattered on the clean sand, so that the chicks will get some grit in their 
gizzards with their first meal. Some so-called experts do not favor hard- 
, boiled egg, but my experience is that chicks will eat it in preference to 
anything else than can be set before them. I always save all the infertile 
eggs for that use.* 

"With the first little 'cheep' that shows they are getting too cool I take 
a board half an inch shorter than inside width of brooder, and press the 
chicks all back through the cloth strips into the hover, leaving the board 
leaning against hover to prevent chicks getting out. This board is one 
and a half or two inches narrower than the height of hover, so that by 
turning up two or three of the cloth strips there will he sufficient venti- 
lation. A better scheme would be to make a frame and cover it with 
fine netting to keep the chicks in. I feed the first two or three days about 
once in three hours, the third day making the feed half rolled oats (the 
common oatmeal) and half boiled egg, chopped together. The chicks will 
pick out all the egg first, but if you do not overfeed will eat the oatmeal 
too. To have the chicks continue to thrive, overfeeding must be avoided 
until they are five or six weeks old. After they are a week old we bake 
a cake of wheat bran and cornmeal, with a teaspoonful of baking powder to 
make it light, and feed fine cracked corn also. As soon as frost gets 
out of the ground and worms come up, I make it a point to dig some 
worms nearly every day fur them. It is live food, and the tenderest meat 
to be got, but the chicks will be made sick if too many are fed. Green 
food of some kind is almost a necessity after they are three weeks old. 1 
put a cabbage head in tneir yards, and they will eat it clear to the stump. 

"In from three to five days, according to the weather, I let them out of 
the brooder, and begin educating them to go up the incline and into 
their hover when cool. Some will huddle into a corner and get chilled 
unless watched and pushed in. After four or five weeks they ought to be 
left outdoors, if the ground is bare. I have seen chickens in a neighbor's 
$300 brooder house gets pale and so weak they could not stand up, until he 
put brooders and all outdoors on the grass, and in less than a week they 
were all right. I make a cheap drinking fountain by cutting slits in a 
tin can half an inch apart, bending in the slit part, filling the can with 
water and placing on top of it the cover of a larger can, then by inverting 
the two you have a self feeding fountain that the chicks cannot get wet in, 
and that it may not get upset put a stone on top of the can, for damp- 
ness in a brooder is to be most carefully avoided. My brooders are 
cleaned out twice a week, all the sand scraped out; then with a fine sieve 
sift out all the droppings and spread the sand around again. If it is 
clean sand, not earth, it may be used many times." 



Care of the Baby Chick. A?, 

ANOTHER METHOD.— At the Maine Experiment Station the fol- 
lowing plan is carried out: — 

"We make bread by mixing three parts cornmeal, one part wheat 
bran, and one part wheat middlings or flour, with skim-milk or water, 
mixing it very dry, and salting as usual for bread. It is baked thor- 
oughly, and when well done if it is not dry enough so as to crumble, it is 
broken up and dried out in the oven and then ground in a mortar or 
mill. The infertile eggs are hard boiled and ground, shell and all, in a 
sausage mill. About one part of ground egg and four parts of bread 
crumbs are rubbed together until the egg is well divided. This bread 
makes up about one-half of the food of the chicks until they are five or six 
weeks old. Eggs are always used with it for the first one or two weeks, 
and then fine sifted beef scrap is mixed witn the bread. 

"When the chicks are first brought to the brooders, bread crumbs are 
sprinkled on the floor of the brooder among 'the" grit, and in this way 
they learn to eat, taking in grit and food at the same time. After the 
first day the food is given in tin plates, four to each brooder. The plates 
have low edges, and the chicks go on to them and find the food readily. 
After they have had the food before them for five minutes the plates are 
removed. As they have not spilled much of it, they have little left to 
lunch on except what they scratch for. In the course of a few days light 
wooden troughs are substituted for the plates. The bottom of the trough 
is a strip of half-inch board, two feet long and three inches wide. Laths 
are nailed around the edges. The birds are fed four times a day in these 
troughs until they outgrow them, as follows : Bread and egg or scrap 
early in the morning; at half past nine o'clock dry grain, either pin-head 
oats, crushed wheat, millet seed or cracked corn. At one o'clock dry 
grain again, and the last feed of. the day is of the bread with egg or scrap. 
Between the four feeds in the pans or trougus, millet seed, pin-head oats 
and fine cracked corn and later whole wheat, are scattered in the chaff on 
the floor for the chicks to scratch for. This makes them exercise, and 
care is taken that they do not find the food too easily. 

"One condition is made imperative in our feeding. The food is never 
to remain in the troughs more than five minutes before the troughs are 
cleaned or removed. This insures sharp appetites at meal time, and 
guards against inactivity which comes from overfeeding. Charcoal, granu- 
lated bone, oyster shell and sharp grit are always kept by them, as well 
as clean water. Mangels are cut in slices, which they soon learn to pick. 
When the grass begins to grow they are able to get green foods from the 
yards. If the small yards are worn out before they move to the range, 
green cut clover or rape is fed to them. After the chickens are moved to 
the range they are fed in the same manner, except that the morning and 
evening feed is made of corn meal, middlings and wheat bran, to which 



44 The Business Hen. 

one-tenth as much beef scrap is added. The other two feeds are of wheat 
and cracked corn. One year we fed double the amount of scrap all through 
the growing season, and had the April and May pullets well developed 
and laying through September and October. To our sorrow they nearly 
all moulted in December, so that month and next were nearly bare of eggs." 

Still another simple method of feeding little chicks is thus described 
by O. W. Mapes: 

"Our hatch of chicks is doing very nicely on nothing but ordinary oat 
flakes, with water to drink. They are now a week old. and the mash bal- 
anced ration will be substituted for the oat flakes during the next week. 
We got 240 chicks from this hatch, with five more that had to be helped 
out of the shell; 241 of these are still lively and bright at the end of the 
first week. Not a bad showing for the oat flakes, which are very handy 
to feed. This hatch was from 360 eggs, nearly 300 of which proved to be 
fertile. The incubator door was closed when eggs first began to pip, and 
not opened for 48 hours ; 240 lively chickens were then removed and five 
more were helped from the shells. They were all placed in two brooders, 
given grit and water at once, and a few oat flakes scattered in the sand on 
the brooder floor. They ate but little the first day, but on the second day 
and since they have been ravenously hungry four or five times a day. I 
have tried to give just what they would clean up in four or five minutes. 
Some days they have been fed five times and others only four. There is 
still little left of the 10-pound bag from which the 240 have been fed the 
first week of their lives. A good rule is to begin at 7 A. M. and feed 
regularly every two and a half hours until 6 P. M. for the first two weeks. 
After that they can soon be reduced to three meals a day." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Young Bird. 
THE YOUNG HEN. — When the hen deserts her chicks, or when the 
little things leave the brooders, the real business of their life begins. The 
object is to push the young pullet rapidly so as to have her laying as 
early as possible. It is best to give the pullets free range if possible — 
the exercise develops them, and they do well to hunt part of their food. 
An orchard with reasonably low trees is a good place for pullets. They 
will do little harm, and benefit themselves if they can roost in the trees 
during the Summer and early Fall. They should be fed an abundance of 
about the same food that gives best results with laying hens. As the nights 
grow cool the pullets should be put in the houses they are to live in through 
the Winter. Where pullets run at large and roost in trees it is hard to 
break the tree habit. They must be taught to come into an enclosure of 
some sort. We can throw the evening feed inside the house and shut the 
door while the pullets are inside eating their supper. If given a small yard 
sne wing may be clipped. It is an advantage to get the pullets into Winter 
quarters early. It is a great change from their life of freedom, and they 
will require considerable time to settle down into business. They should 
not, of course, be permitted to roost in trees or without shelter during the 
cold storms of Fall. Before being housed for the Winter the pullets 
should be dusted with insect powder and the houses should be thoroughly 
cleaned. If we put vermin in with the pullets we can hardly expect to 
get rid of it through the Winter. We must depend on the pullets for our 
earliest eggs. The older hens moult during the late Summer and Fall, 
and do not lay until they have recovered from this change. It is therefore 
necessary to force the pullets steadily, so that they may be ready for lay- 
ing as early as possible. The age at which pullets will begin to lay varies 
with the breed, and depends much upon the care and feeding. Instances 
are on record where Leghorns have begun to lay at less than 120 days 
old, but this is exceptional. In good weather chicks are weaned at from 
seven to 10 weeks old, and then run until late September or October. We 
want a steady, rapid growth on the pullet if we expect them to pay for their 
board in November and December. In order to have pullets laying by 
November 1st they must be hatched by the middle of April and pushed 
forward without stoppage. If they can be made to begin at this time they 
have a full year for laying, while if they do not start until January the 
pullets lose two of the most profitable months. The theory that if a pullet 
does not lay at her best during her first year, she will make up for it the 



46 The Business Hen. 

next year, does not work out in practice. She should be started early 
and kept at it. 

A hard test for a new beginner with poultry will often) come in the 
Fall when the pullets demand careful and heavy feeding and yet do not 
lay an egg. They must be fed heavily with a fair amount of meat if we 
expect them to lay early, and it often seems like money thrown away when 
grain is high and funds are short. It is a good time to dispose of old 
hens and surplus roosters while the pullets are "eating their heads off," 
for the income from these sources helps pay the grain bill. 

THE YOUNG COCKEREL. — In many flocks the young males are per- 
mitted to become a nuisance. They often run at large until Thanksgiving, 
eating large quantities of grain, so that when they are finally killed they 
have cost about all they bring. It is well understood that pigs or cattle 
make their cheapest gain while young. We have found the cost of pro- 
ducing a pound of pork on a pig weighing 125 pounds considerably less 
than on the same pig when it is fed to 250 pounds. The same is true of 
the young roosters in the average flock. The following plan of feeding is 
followed at the Maine Kxperiment Station, and is much better than the 
old method of letting the young birds run at large. 

"When the chickens are moved to the field the sexes are separated. The 
cockerels are confined in yards, in lots of about 100, and fed twice daily on 
porridge made of four parts of cornmeal, two parts middlings or flour, and 
one part fine beef scrap. The mixed meals are wet with skim-milk or 
water — milk is preferred — until the mixture will just run, but not drop from 
the end of a wooden ^poon. They are given what they will eat of this in 
the morning and again towards evening. It is left before them until all 
have eaten heartily, not more than hour at one time, after which the 
troughs are removed and cleaned. The cockerels are given plenty of shade 
and kept as quiet as possible. 

"We have found our chickens that are about 100 days old at the be- 
ginning to gain in four weeks' feeding, from l-)4 to 2J4 pounds each and 
sometimes more. Confined and fed in this way they are meaty and soft, 
and in very much better market condition than though they had been 
fed generously on dry grains and given more liberty. Poultry raisers can- 
not afford to sell the chickens as they run, but they can profit greatly by 
fleshing and fattening them as described. Many careful tests in chicken 
feeding have shown that as great gains are as cheaply and more easily 
made, when the chickens, in lots not to exceed 100, are put in a house 
with a floor space of 75 to 100 feet and a yard of corresponding size, 
as when they are divided into lots of four birds each and confined in 
latticed coops, just large enough to hold them. Four weeks has been about 
the limit of profitable feeding, both in the large and small lots. Chickens 
gain faster while young. In every case birds that were 150 to 175 days old 



The Young Bird. 47 

have given us comparatively small gains. The practice of successful poul 
trymen in selling the cockerels at the earliest marketable age is well 
founded, for chickens, sold at Thanksgiving are expensive products." 

Of course if the cockerel is to be kepi for breeding purposes he should 
not be handled in this way, or he would be of little use as a breeder. In 
that case he should be fed like the pullets and have a go; id range, so that 
he can pick up frame and vigor instead of fat. We can never obtain strong 
and profitable laying stock by breeding from tat and sluggish parents. 

Experiments with young birds kept in small coops compared with a 
large flock kept in one house, with a suitable yard, show that the latter 
method pays better. The birds make a slightly larger gain, and there is 
less work in caring for them. Where skim-milK can be had it is very 
profitable for mixing the mash for the young roosters. The addition of 
meat meal or beef scrap to the cornmeal increases the gain. One of the 
most important things is to begin fattening while the birds are young. It 
was found that when young roosters, 170 days old, were started at fatten- 
ing over eight pounds of grain mash were required to make one pound of 
live chicken. With similar birds, 95 days old, fed in the same way, 
less than six pounds of grain were needed for one pound of live gain. 

THE BROILER. — We must repeat the caution about putting either 
cockerels or pullets into filthy houses. No bird can possibly put on flesh 
while covered with vermin. When fattened as described the young rooster 
makes a fine broiler. Formerly a larger bird was required for this trade. 
but of late years a smaller carcass has found a market and is in demand. 
These are called "squab broilers." Small breeds like the Leghorns make 
excellent broilers when penned and fed on soft food as described above. 
The experience of O. W. Mapes in developing this trade will help many 
who wish to make the best use of the young roosters. The average young 
rooster sold alive at Thanksgiving rarely nets the grower over 30 cents. 
We may fatten them so that they will bring far more than this, and save 
at least two months of feeding. 

"It is quite a tedious job to pick 50 broilers nicely, without tearing the 
skin. In picking squab broilers it is more difficult still. I stepped into a 
store in New York, a couple of years ago, where game and poultry are 
made a specialty, to look at some squab broilers I saw hanging in the 
window. The proprietor told me that all his poultry must be dry picked, 
as the eye of his customers had to be pleased as well as the palate. This 
was in December, and I happened to have a lot of chicks at home about 
the right size. He named a price per pair, which amounted to about 60 
cents per pound, if I would dress them as nicely as the ones he showed 
me. One of our local butchers pretends to be an expert, having worked 
at it in the West, and he promised to help me out. I took him down a 
few, but he tore them so badly that he soon gave up in disgust. Nothing 



48 The Business Hen. 

daunted, I took them home again, and we pegged away at it ourselves. If 
those who are looking for profitable employment in Winter for farm help 
can succeed in raising a lot of broilers to be picked in Winter, there will 
be no lack of employment. We do not pretend to know how to do it 
quickly yet, but we can do it nicely, and sell them for top quotations or 
more. We* are open for suggestions from those who know how to do it 
quickly. The first thing, of course, is to have good plump birds. They 
should have yellow skin and legs. Deprive them of food at least 12 hours 
before killing, so that the crop will be empty. Hang the birds up by both 
feet, and bleed by opening mouth and cutting main artery of neck, at base 
of tongue. It is important to draw all the blood, or it may settle under 
the skin where each feather is pulled, discoloring the skin. Pull large 
wing and tail feathers first, then smaller feathers, and finally the pin 
feathers. There are spots on each wing and on the breast, where the skin 
tears very easily. Great care must be exercised at these points. Aside 
from this, it seems to be simply a case where nimble fingers count. Our 
best pickers still require from 15 to IS minutes for either a squab broiler or 
a two-pound broiler. Immerse in ice water just as quickly as feathers 
can be removed. This removes animal heat quickly and prevents dis- 
coloration of the abdomen. When ready for shipment, remove from ice 
".vater, and pack in pounded ice. We wrap the heads of our S. C. Whit* 
Leghorn cockerels in a neat paper before packing. This adds to the 
attractive appearance of the shipment. The squab broilers should weigh 
12 to 14 ounces each. They are used by the wealthy buyers, and demanded 
just at the time when they are hardest to produce. If eggs that are laid 
in November and December can be successfully converted into chickens, 
they are sure to sell for big prices." 



CHAPTER IX. 




■ 
Fig. 19. WHITE & RICE'S HEN HOUSE. 



The Hen's House. 

Men build various kinds of houses for their own use. Some are con- 
venient and comfortable; others are never satisfactory. If we study 100 
desirable houses, we find that they all agree in one thing. They are 
planned to meet the needs of people with definite habits and purposes. So 
with poultry houses, the breed, conditions of feeding, climate, size of 
flock and purse, and other matters which concern the owner alone must 
be considered. Therefore, without trying to lay down any definite rules 
for poultry house -building we give suggestions from those who have 
apparently solved the problem for their own conditions. 

THE ESSEN- 
TIAL PRINCI- 
PLES. — On the 
White Leghorn 
farm of White & 
Rice the following 
rules of house 
building are fol- 
lowed. This farm 
is 30 miles north 
of New York: 

"The three essentials in building a poultry house are comfort, con- 
venience and cost, in their order. Comfort should be first, for the reason 
if the hens are not comfortable no amount of work and feed can make 
them lay in the Fall and Winter when the high prices of eggs make poultry 
keeping so profitable. Then comes convenience. Have things just as 
handy as you possibly can, for you will find when you keep a thousand 
and more hens that having houses handy to feed, water and clean will 
save many days' work in the course of a year. One hour a day means over 
one month in a year. Last of all comes the bugbear of so many, cost. 
Cost does not spell comfort or even convenience. There are many expen- 
sive poultry houses that are both uncomfortable and unhandy. A hen needs 
five square feet of floor space, and to keep her comfortable in cold weather 
we must build the house low so she won't have to warm up an unnecessary 
air space, but don't get it so low that you break your own head when 
caring for the hens. Very good dimensions for a single house are 12 x 15 
feet, seven feet high in front and four in the rear. 

"The floor should be raised six inches, with stones and a good cement 
floor put on that, making it proof against dampness and rats, two of the 



50 



The Business Hen. 




Fig. 120. 
SWINGING ROOST AND NEST. 



(rials p'oultrymcn are heir to. The sills 
and ronf timbers should be 3 x 4-inch 
hemlock or spruce, and 2 x 3-inch stuff 
is heavy enough for all else. The siding 
and roof boards may be of any cheap 
lumber that is dry and free from loose 
knots. Cover the roof with three-ply 
tarred paper and a coat of roofing ce- 
ment or paint. A modification of the 
colony house plan is the best (see Fig. 
19). Building six houses together makes it more convenient to care for 
the hens, is warmer and costs less than single houses, while the flock is 
none too large to run together in the Summer. Strong unbleached muslin 
makes good partitions in such a house. It is also used a great deal for 
windows, being warmer than glass in Winter and cooler in Summer. The 
only thing against it is, it does not let in quite as much light on a dark, 
cloudy day as the glass will., but where they have very cold Winters it is 
the best thing to use. 

"Have the interior of your houses as simple as possible for the sake of 
cleanliness. The simplest way is to make your nests under the roosts and 
suspend the whole device from the roof. Then there is nothing to bother 
cleaning the floor, and no cracks between roosts and side walls to harbor 
mites and trouble. For a house this size you would want a platform 
six feet long and three feet wide with three perches on, and a row of 
nests underneath (see Fig. 20). A shell or grit box, made like Fig. 
21, is fastened to the wall so it is easily removable. The dust box, and • 
water basin, complete the furnishing of the house. The scratching-shed 
house is particularly adapted to breeding stock, and is a little more expen- 
sive than the plans given here, but where you want the best results from 
your breeders it is worth the extra cost. In Fig. 10 you notice the windows 
are low and should be made of muslin tacked on stiff frames, the whole 
hinged, making a door when you wish, and always 



should be open when the weather permits. A six- 
section house would be be 90 feet long, accommo- 
dating over 200 hens, and should not cost over 
$150 complete if built on this plan. It will be so 
comfortable and convenient that with good feed 
and care you cannot fail to make poultry keeping 
profitable."' 

COLD-COUNTRY HOUSE.— Fig. 22 shows 
a section of the long poultry house at the Maine 
Experiment Station. This is located in a very cold 




Fig. 



country, and great pains are taken to make the SHELL AND GRIT BOX, 



The lien's House. 



51 



hens comfortable. This house is 14 feet 
wide and 150 feet long. The back is 5^ 
feet high and the front six feet eight inches. 
The ridge is nine feet front the floor. Fig. 
23 shows the interior fixtures of one i 
it being 20 feet wide. In this space — 20 x 
14 feet — 50 hens are kept. The house is 
boarded, papered and shingled on roof and 
walls'. The rear wall behind the roosts and 
four feet of the roof above are ceiled on 
the inside of the studding and plates, and 




\^- 



Fig. 22. 
C< M.I) COUNTRY HOUSE. 
the space between packed hard with dry sawdust. As will be seen from 
the picture, each room of this house has two 12-light windows screwed 
on to the front. The space between these windows, eight feet by three, is 
covered with wire netting. The lower part being boarded prevents 
the wind from blowing directly upon the hens. During stormy days and 
cold nights a curtain consisting of a light frame covered with 10-ounce 
duck swings down in front of the wire and covers it. The picture shows 
how this curtain frame swings from the top. The roost platform extends 
the whole length of the room. It is three feet six inches wide and three 
feet from the floor. The roosts are 2 x 3-inch stuff placed on edge and are 
two inches above the platform. They are 16 inches apart; the backs are 
11 inches from the wall. Two curtains similar to the one in front are 
noticed hung over the roost platform. They are 10 feet long and 30 
inches wide, hinged at the top and arranged with pulleys, so as to be 
pulled up or let down easily. Six trap nests, as are shown on page 15, 
are arranged in the corner as shown. The door leading to the next room 
is 2 l / 2 feet wide. This door is a light frame covered with 10-ounce duck, 
such as is used in making the curtains. It is made with double-acting 
hinges, so as to swing both ways — a great advantage in passing through 
such a house. Strips of old rubber belting are nailed to the studs, which 

the doors rub against so they 
will not swing too easily with 
the wind. The wire front of 
this house admits the air, but 
the hens do not feel the direct 
force of the wind. During 
rougrt Winter storms or on 
very cold nights the front cur- 
tain is lowered and fastened 
with a button, so that it comes 

„ _- in front of the wire screen, 

Fig. 23. 
INTERIOR OF ABOVE HOUSE. thus shutting out the wind and 




62 



The Business Hen. 




taking the place of windows. 

The object of the curtains in 
front of the roosts is to make a 
warm room for the hens on very 
cold nights. On such nights, 
after the hens have gone to 
roost, the curtains are let down 
and buttoned, so that the hens 
are shut in a small room.' The 
Fig. 24. heat ot their bodies keeps this 

VAN DRESSER'S PARTITIONED HOUSE. room wa rm, and, strange to say, 
the air behind the curtains does not become foul. It is said that when 
these "sleeping closets" are used not a sick hen or even a case of bad cold 
could be found. After passing the night in this warm place the hens 
seem to enjoy coming down to the floor to scratch for their food in the 
litter. We would not recommend this "roosting closet" except for use on 
very cold nights. The plan of an open front with a curtain has much in 
its favor. 

HOUSE INTERIORS.— The interior fixtures for henhouses vary 
almost as much as do those for human families. Fig. 24 shows an in- 
terior of one of Henry Van Dresser's houses. A wire netting partition 
divides a large room in two. The arrangement of roosts and nest boxes 
is easily seen. Fig. 25 shows a little house used by Mr. Cosgrove, who 
lives in a cold part of New England. He describes it as follows: 

"This is the most economical house to build that I know of. The 
house is 10 x 10 on the ground. A perpendicular front would (with the 
same roof) be only 7 x 10, so I gain 30 feet of floor surface at a cost of 
only 46 feet of boards. The house is made of seven-eighths-inch matched 
pine, roof and back covered with red Neponset roofing paper. There are 
no sills or plates; the boards are nailed to a 2 x 3 x 10 scantling six 
inches from bottom edge, and three inches below top edge, so that the 
ends of the 2x3 pieces that the roof is nailed to rest on the 2x3 that 

the sides are nailed to. Each 
part, top, back, front and sides 
are made separately, and are 
hooked together across the cor- 
ners. The house can be un- 
hooked, laid flat on the ground 
and loaded on a wagon in five 
minutes, and put together again 
as quickly. Two large windows 

which slide sideways allow near- 
Fig. 25. J 

COSGROVE'S MOVABLE HOUSE. ly ha ' f of the front to be open 




The Hen's House. 



53 




Fig. 26. 

SCRATCHING SHED 

ARRANGEMENT. 



in hot days, as well as the large door in east 
end (which is left off to show interior) and 
which opens into an open front scratching shed 
size of the house. The low windows let the 
\\ inter sun shine on the earth floor, drying and 
warming it, so the fowls make a dust bath of 
the entire floor. Roost platform, with remov- 
able roosts, nest boxes and feed trough, are 
shown; on the east end next the door is a box with three partitions, one 
each for shells, grit and charcoal." 

Fig. 26 shows a plan for connecting the house with a scratching shed. 
Fig. 27 shows how a boy with a small backyard kept a few hens in a 
piano box, while Fig. 29 shows a henhouse on wheels, often used in 
England for pasturing the hens on a grain stubble. This house or wagoii 
is hauled about the field after harvest, and the hens pick up the grain that 
was lost by the reapers. 

WARMING THE HENHOUSE.— Some experiments have been made 
in providing artificial heat. In Maine a house 150 feet long was well built, 
yet cold in the worst of Winter. A hot-water heater was placed in a 
pit at one end, and from it a line of two-inch pipes was carried the entire 
length of the building and returned under the roosts. This gave suffi- 
cient heat, kept the hens in good health, and the egg yield was main- 
tained. Stoves have been used in some houses, but not with the best oi 
success. A device for using a lamp in a small house is shown in Fig. 28. 
On a large scale, and in very cold weather, the hot-water pipe might pay, 
but the danger is in using the heat in milder weather — when the hens 
would be better off without it. Some poultry keepers follow the plan that 
has proved so successful with cattle; building a tight, warm building, pro- 
viding for a good ventilation, and leaving the question of warmth to the 
animal heat of the hens. H. E. Cook has described what he calls a "hen 
sanitarium." This was a room 10 x 24 feet. In this room 125 hens were 
kept, and though outside the mercury fell to far below zero, the temperature 
inside ranged from 37 degrees to 42 degrees. Mr. Cook says : 

"This house is thoroughly insulated upon all sides but one, which is 
protected by another building, by a stuffed 
wall of straw and straw above, and a ce- 
ment floor, thus shutting off 'every chance 
for air to enter around the wall or for cold 
air contact or moisture from the soil below. 
I have repeatedly said that it does not seem 
possible to- secure large egg production in 
the Winter in our northern sections, where 
it storms often three days in a week and 




I 



Fig. 27. 
PIANO-BOX HOUSE. 



54 



The Business Hen. 




Fig. 
A LAJVa' HEATER. 



is cloud}' rest of the time, and this exceptional 
year these things things happen every day in the 
week. But this warm henhouse is giving 40 to 
53 e. 1 - 1 .'".? a flriy for the past six weeks from 125 
hens, 7.") pullets, and 50 old hens, and 40 degrees 
below absolutely had no effect otherwise than to 
increase the production two eggs per day. This 
room is ceiled upon the inside with unmatched 
boards, the side walls filled with straw, about 10 
inches space. In the loft straw is put in loosely, 
and the space between the boards caused by 
shrinkage is left open into the loose straw above 
The door into the room does not shut air tight, 
and therefore serves as an intake for fresh air; 
then very slowly passing into the straw above. 
In this way it would seem that a much slower circulation takes place than 
would if there was an opening cut directly into the loft and the circulation 
left free, as it would through even an ordinary out-take flue. I do not 
feel like speaking with much authority upon the hen business, but it is 
rather a lingering belief that henhouses as a rule are troubled with too 
much change of air rather than a lack of it, and furthermore that the 
apparent need of ventilation when one goes into a house comes largely 
from filth, and a lack of sanitation due to droppings long preserved. 1 
am not inclined to belittle the necessity of pure air, but to magnify the 
value of cleanliness, and so secure pure air with less frequent change. 
There is ground for debate whether open dead air spaces are preferable 
to stuffed walls. My preference is for the stuffed space, provided it is 
wide enough, for this reason: Each straw is hollow and cannot be abso- 
lutely (if dry) packed so closely to another that there will not be air 
between them, and hence with this means of insulation there will be pro- 
vided a multitude of dead-air spaces, at moderate cost, while to secure even 
two spaces with lumber at $20 per 1,000 means rapidly increasing cost 
and there certainly should not be less than two. Furthermore, no lumber 
can be so sound and thoroughly seasoned that 
there will not, even if painted, be some shrink- 
age after a few years' use, and when these pre- 
viously considered dead-air spaces have open- 
ings they are no longer dead-air spaces, because 
air circulates in them and heat is quickly carried 
away. A mistake, however, is often made when 
stuffing is to be practiced in forming the space 
too narrow. It should ordinarily be not less 
HOUSE ON WHEELS. than 10 inches, more or less, perhaps, accord- 




The Hen's House. 




Fig. 30. 
HAY WARD'S 14-IIEN HOUSE. 



ing to wind pressure against its 
sides. When plain dead-air spaces 
are used, then one-half inch will 
suffice as well as more. I am of 
the opinion that the ceiling will 
be better if the lumber is not 
matched, thereby leaving small 
cracks to be covered with two or 
three feet of dry, loose straw." 

It will be noticed that Mr. 
Cook allows less than two square 
feet of floor space to each hen, but 
the greatest care is taken to have 
this floor clean. The litter is 
changed frequently, and the floor is swept often, which is possible, since 
it is made of concrete. The manure is cleaned out before it becomes 
offensive. It would not be possible to keep the hens in health in such 
crowded quarters if the house were not kept so clean. We have many 
other reports of hens crowded into a small space and yet laying remarkably 
well. In every such case the houses are well ventilated and kept thor- 
oughly clean. It seems to be settled that we may safely use the animal 
heat of hens or cows to keep up the temperature of their rooms if we can 
provide for a supply of pure air and dispose of the foul air without creat- 
ing too much of a draft. 

THE DUST BOX. — This ought to stand in the sunshine out of all 
drafts ; under the front window is a good place. Road dust is excellent. 
It is well to secure a quantity of it during a dry spell in Summer. We 
have found dry sifted coal ashes good. A large shallow box is best. Do 
not fill it too full so the hens will kick the dust over the floor. In some 
cases a small quantity of lime is added to the dust, but we do not like it. 
as it takes the gloss from the feathers. Do not let the dust remain too 
long. It must not become damp or 
caked. In freezing weather the dust 
box should be emptied frequently, so 
as to keep the dust dry. 

THE FLOOR. — Good arguments are 
advanced for cement, board or earth 
floors, just as different housekeepers pre- 
fer carpets, matting or rugs with hard 
wood. The wood floors are warm and 
easily cleaned. Cement makes a solid 

floor, and if properly built keeps out „ „ 1 

rats and vermin better than the others. SWINGING HEN DOOR. 




56 



The Business Hen. 



It is easy to clean, the chief objection being that it is cold. With plenty 
of litter this objection counts for less. Earth floors can be dug over from 
time to time, and make a good natural place for the hens to dig and 
dust. After some years they become foul, unless dug out and changed 
yearly, and are more likely to carry disease germs than floors that can 
be easily swept clean. Unless well drained they are wet in rainy weather. 
A combination liked by many is a cement floor covered with several 
inches of sand or dry dirt. Whatever floor is used a good covering of 
clean dry litter must be kept on it and frequently changed. Cut straw 
makes good litter; so do forest leaves or shredded cornstalks. Oat 
straw in the sheaf is used by some poultry keepers. 

ROOSTS. — Notice how a hen holds on to the perch and balances 
herself upon it. A square strip with the edges rounded off gives her a 
better grip than a round pole — a two or three-inch strip, according to the 
size of the bird, will answer. Do not put them too high. The hens are 
often hurt by flying up to them. The arrangement shown on page 50, 
used in White and Rice's house, is excellent. There should be a dropping 
board one foot under the roosts to catch the droppings. The roosts should 
not be fastened, but put in notches so that they can be quickly taken out 
for cleaning. In some cases duck or other thick cloth is tacked to the under 
side of the roosts. This will be kept smeared with kerosene, and thus 
prevent the mites from gathering there. The dropping board must of 
course be cleaned off frequently. Its great value is that the hens can run 
under it, and thus have greater floor space. 

BARNS FOR HENHOUSES. — Sometimes a farmer wishes to change 
from dairying to poultry-keeping. Men often buy farms with large build- 
ings used formerly for sheep or cattle. How can such buildings be made 
over to suit poultry ? While it is better to build houses exactly suited to 
hens this is not always possible, and the larger buildings can be used. A 
Maine man fitted up an old building, and this is what he says about it: 

N 



R-initi, 



*7- 



—B-S 



«£L 



*? 



^ 



4--Vo 



K 



2 00 $&pui. H 



H: 



B- 



* 



2-6' O - *T 



"I have used and am still using a barn 36 x 40 feet as a three-story hen- 
house. The lower story is a basement open to the south; second floor 



The Hen's House. 57 

is on the level with all the land except south of barn; third is up one 
flight from entrance. In Summer I let each floor run as one flock, 
having a large field and orchard, and only have division fences run- 
ning about 300 feet, and I find that a hen very rarely gets around 
the end. The upper flock have a run which starts about 10 feet from end 
of barn, and runs through the middle pen to the ground. I use poultry 
wire for partitions and doors. I have no walks, and have doors rigged 
with pulleys and weights so that they keep shut. Troughs are made of 
10-inch boards for mash, and I feed dry grain on floor in litter. Water 
dishes are elevated on a wide board about 12 inches from ground, which 
keeps water clean. For roosts I use 2 x 3-inch pine planed and simply laid 
on stringers two feet from the ground, which makes them easy to clean, 
and roosts are placed so that two flocks roost close together. Sometime I 
want to use the space over the big beams as a pigeon roost to raise squabs. 
I am only using two floors this Winter, as I have but 400 hens, but I would 
not exchange my barn for any henhouse, as the work is all in a bunch. 

CONFINE HENS.— Fig. 30 shows one of the COO houses on the 
poultry farm of C. E. L. Hayward, Hancock, N. H. The houses are eight 
feet square and of the same height, having a double floor with a square 
base 15 inches high of two-inch plank, to which the roof boards are nailed. 
The roof and back are shingled. The front is boarded down from top 
and up from bottom about 15 inches. The door and spaces each side are 
covered with wire netting one inch mesh. Thus the south end is nearly 
open to the weather the year around. The houses are in rows two rods 
apart, four rods between the rows, all facing the south. Each house has 
14 hens. No chickens are raised. In October and November every hen 
is sold and a new stock of pullets, raised by contract in Vermont and 
Canada, put in. 



CHAPTER X. 

Feeding the Hen. 
A BALANCED RATION.— Nothing connected with poultry keeping 
i\ quires more skill and judgment. than giving the hen what she needs* to 
make feathers, llesh and eggs. A farmer who just throws corn out to 
the hens now and thru will say feeding is easy, and there is no skill about 
it. He is wrong, for the hen furnishes the skill and judgment. She eats 
the corn, and then g and hunts for insects, seeds, grass — anything 

that she can find. If we could gather everything she selects in this way 
and analyze it we would find that it makes a "balanced ration," much 
t'nc same as the mixture of grain and meat which the skilled feeder gives 
his hens in the Winter. To prove this statement we have only to remem- 
ber that in Summer, when the corn-fed hen has a chance to balance her 
lation she lays eggs. In Winter, when still fed corn but denied the chance 
to hunt for insects and meat she quits and lays on fit. 1 know a farmer 
who for years fed corn in Winter and had few eggs. He bought a bone 
cutter and fed cut bone, and had a good supply. Why was this? The 
cut bone enabled the hen to balance her own ration as she did when she 
hunted insects to go with the corn. The idea of a balanced ration was 
suggested first by an effort to imitate the hen's natural food, when she 
is shut in a yard or house. It is based on the fact that certain parts of the 
hen's body cannot be produced unless certain distinct elements are sup- 
plied in the food. For example the shell of the egg is composed largely 
of lime. It will not be made of any other substance, and unless lime is 
supplied in some way there can be no shell. The feathers, the white of 
the egg, the muscles and lean meat of the hen contain an element known 
as nitrogen, and the food must contain a fair supply of this muscle-making 
material. The chemists call this part of the food protein, but we will call 
it here muscle-maker. The fat of the body is made from starch, sugar, 
and similar materials in the food. The muscle cannot be made from 
these fatty foods. If we feed too many of them the hen will stop making 
ban meat or laying eggs and simply lay on fat. We will call this part of 
the food "fat formers." There is also a quantity of oil or pure fat in most 
foods. It is more digestible than the fat formers and we call it "pure 
fat." Left to herself, with plenty to choose from, a healthy hen will make 
a nice selection of these three elements in her food, taking enough "muscle 
makers" to keep up her bone and muscle and provide for the egg, and 
enough of the others to suit her purpose. Human mothers need the 
doctor or some other wise man to come and tell them that their children 



Feeding the Urn. 



59 



should eat oatmeal or other whole grain to provide the material for 
teeth and bones. The hen knows by instinct what she needs, and in order 
to cater to that instinct, when we cannot let the hen choose entirely, we 
get the chemist to pick our grains and other foods apart so that we can 
tell how to mix them and give the hen a good Winter imitation of her 
Summer diet of worms, seeds and grass. For the hen must have mineral 
matter to build her bones and shell her eggs. This "mineral matter" is 
the part of the hen or her food which cannot be consumed by fire, but 
which remains as ash. We must also remember that the hen cannot utilize 
all the food she eats. More than half of its fertilizing value passes away 
in the form of manure. We must give her fond enough to provide for all. 

AMOUNTS IN TEN POUNDS OF EACH. ^ hof 

Muscle-makers. Fat-former-. Pure fat. Min. .Mai. 
P. C. Ozs. P. C. Ozs. P. C. Ozs. P. C. Ozs. 

Wheat bran 12. 19.2 39. 62.4 2.7 4.4 G.4 10.2 

Wheat 10. 16. G9. 110.4 1.7 2.7 1.3 2.8 

Corn 8. 12.8 67. 107.2 4.3 6.8 1.4 2.2 

Oats 9. 14.4 47. 59.2 4.2 6.7 2.9 4.6 

Rye 10. 16. 67. 107.2 1.1 1.7 1.9 3. 

Middlings 12.5 20. 53. 84.8 3.4 5.4 3.3 5.28 

Gluten meal 25. 40. 4.;. 6S.S 11. 17.6 12. 19.2 

Meat meal in. 64. 7.5 12. 10. 16. 38. 6. 

Beef scraps 50. 80. 5. 8. 21. 33.6 15. 21. 

Clover hay 7. 11.2 36. 57.6 1.7 2.7 62. 9.9 

Buckwheat 7.7 12.3 49. 78.4 1.8 2.8 2. 3.2 

Skimmed milk 3. 4.8 5. 8. 0.3 0.48 0.7 1.1 

Eggs 12. 19.2 10. 16. 14.5 23.2 

Cut bone 21. 33.6 32. 51. 22. 3.5 

Barley 9. 14.4 65. 104. 1.6 2.5 2.7 4.3 

Millet 9. 14.4 45. 72. 3.2 5.1 2.6 4.1 

Sorghum 7. 11.2 52. 83.2 3.1 4.9 1.5 2.4 

Sunflower seed 12. 19.2 21. 33.6 '29. 46.4 2.0 1.1 

Linseed meal 28. 44.8 40. 64. 2.8 4.4 6. 9.6 

Peas 17. 27.2 52. 83.2 0.7 1.1 2.6 4.1 

WHAT IT MEANS. — It does not take us long to see why, when the 
farmer added cut bone to the corn his hens laid more eggs. A dozen egc r s 
will weigh not far from 25 ounces, requiring three ounces of muscle 
makers, and nearly four of mineral matter. Ten pounds of corn do not 
provide half enough mineral matter for :n cue;-, even if every bit 

of the corn could be used and none passed as manure. The muscle makers 
are also low in the corn, and when the hen provides for the growth of 
body and feathers, animal heat and the fat necessary for comfort there is 



GO The Business Hen. 

not much left in the corn to furnish the material for eggs. We see what 
happens when cut bone is added. This is rich in muscle makers and min- 
eral matter, and the hen was ready to provide for the needs of her system 
and also lay eggs. 

It does not follow from this that cut bone and corn is the best ration 
for hens just because it gives her mineral matter and muscle makers. 
You can put water in a steam boiler and burn coal under it and make 
steam, but a hen is not fed that way. Like most humans she prefers one 
kind of food to another, and will do best on food that she likes. You must 
study her likes and dislikes and cater to 

C ___\^ them. 

^^^^'■ ^■'- ■ ^^^jizs^^m Why, then, talk about "balanced ra- 

tions," and what is the need of studying 
Fig. 32. these figures? You cannot always afford 

HINGED FEED BOX. to f ecd tne hen just what she likes best. 

You must often substitute one food for another. How can you know 
that you arc feeding the hen more or less than she needs unless you can 
know just what the foods contain? If you could figure out what the hen 
cats when at liberty and what the most successful hen keepers feed their 
birds when housed, you will find that there is a definite proportion of 
muscle makers to the other elements. If we call the fat worth 2\A times 
as much as the fat formers and add the two together we shall find that 
there is about T [ as much of the muscle makers in the ration. That is, 
when the laying hen is left free to select the food that will best keep up her 
body heat and vigor, and enable her to lay eggs she will select about one 
part of the muscle makers to four parts of fat formers and pure fat, with, 
of course, plenty of lime and other mineral matter. If you were fattening 
poultry you would of course mix up a ration that would contain more of 
the fat formers. 

This in brief is the theory of a "balanced ration." No one expects a 
farmer to feed his hens on exact scientific principles, but a little study 
of these figures will often enable us to mix our feeds so as to save grain 
and keep the hens supplied with what they need. Successful poultrymen 
have different methods of feeding, but if we know what they feed we 
shall find that the mixture comes close to our "balanced ration," which is 
a good thing to take for the standard. 

TWO WAYS OF FEEDING.— To illustrate two different methods of 
feeding hens we give a report from the Maine Experiment Station of feed- 
ing in cold weather when the hens are housed: 

Years ago the "morning mash," which was regarded as necessary to 
'"warm up the cold hen," so she could lay that day, was given up and it was 
fed at night. The birds are fed throughout the year daily as follows: 
Each pen of twenty-two receives one pint of wheat in the deep litter early 



Feeding the Hen. 61 

in the morning. At 9.30 A. M. one-half pint of oats is fed lo them in the 
same way. At 1 P. M. one-half pint of cracked c< rn is pivcn in the litter 
as before. At :; P. M. in the Winter and 4 P. M. in the Summer they are 
given all the mash they will eat up clean in half an hour. The mash is 
made of the following mixture of meals: 200 pounds wheat bran; 100 
pounds cornmeal; 100 pounds wheat middlings; 100 pounds linseed meal; 
loo pounds gluten meal; 100 pounds beef scrap. The mash contains one- 
fourth its bulk of clover leaves and heads, obtained from the feeding 
floor in the cattle barn. The clover is covered with hot water and allowed 
to stand for three or four hours. The mash is made quite dry, and rubbed 
down with the shovel in mixing, so that the pieces of clover are separated 
and covered with meal. Cracked bone, oyster shells, clean grit, and water 
are before them all the time. Two large mangels are fed to the birds in 
each pen daily in Winter. They arc stuck on to large nails, which are 
partly driven into the wall, a foot and a half above the floor. Very 
few soft-shelled eggs are laid. and. sn far as known, not an egg has been 
eaten by the hens during the last five years. 

We are testing another method of feeding with several pens of hens 
this year. It consists of the morning. O.T',0 A. M., and 1 P. M. feedings of 
dry food in the litter as • instead of the mash at 3 P. M. all the 

dry cracked corn they will eat is given in trouj E scrap is kept 

before the birds at all times, in elevated troughs where they cannot waste 
it. They are supplied with grit, oyster shew, bone, and mangels. Dry 
clover leaves and chaff are given them on the floor each day. One pen 
of 30 hens were fed through last Winter in this way with good results. 
If you figure this out by the table, multiplying amount of "pure fat' 
by 2]/ 2 and adding to the "fat formers," you will see that the mash con- 
tains the following : 

cle Maker. Fat Former. Pure Fat. 

200 Wheat bran 24 78 5.2 

100 Corn meal 8 67 4.2 

100 Linseed 2S to 2.8 

100 Gluten 25 43 11. 

100 Beef scraps 50 5 2.1 

135 233 25.3 

This is a proportion of about one to three and the corn, oats and wheat will 
just about give a proportion of all the food ot one to four. \Y 
quite sure that the hens which are fed on dry food eat enough of the 
beef scrap to give about the same proportion. We do not give this ration 
as a model one, but as an illustration of how hens can be fed. Tt will 
pay to go over any ration in this way and see just what the hens are 
receiving. We should have a few definite principles in mind, and then 




PIG. 33. HANDY FEED BOX. 



62 The Business Hen. 

try to satisfy our hens. There may be cases where skim-milk is cheap 
and plenty. If we used it in place of water we should need less linseed or 
meat, as we can learn from our table. In many cases corn is by far the 
cheapest food. We can safely use large quantities of it if we use some 
form of meat with it to provide the needed muscle makers. Taking 
care not to have the proportion of fat formers in our ration too large, we 
should feed to please the hens, making them work for most of their 
food, and when once getting them satisfied making changes very slowly. 

Another method of feeding 
hens in Winter quarters is 
given here. This is useful on 
a dairy farm where skim-milk 
is handy : 

"In the morning they are 
t'< d about 10 quarts of dry feed 
in the litter in scratching sheds, 
the litter pushed up into a heap, and the grain scattered through it so 
they must scratch ; the grain is usually half cracked corn and half wheat, 
sometimes oats in place of wheat, sometimes buckwheat, but always half 
cracked corn. As I have two hundred liens, this is a light feed, about 
one pint to ten hens. I want them hungry enough to work. Early in the 
forenoon eight quarts of skim-milk are placed on the back of the kitchen 
stove, where it will heat without burning, and at noon this is poured into 
a large iron kettle, together with two quarts of animal meal, a table- 
spoonful of salt and three times a week a tcaspoonful of red pepper ; then 
stirred into it all it will wet thoroughly of bran and cornmeal, two parts 
bran to one of meal. It makes eighteen quarts of feed, all the hens will 
eat up clean. About every other day three or four quarts of boiled pota- 
toes are cut up and mixed in the milk. Just before sundown they are 
fed the same dry feed as in the morning, only more in quantity. I aim 
tn feed at this time all they will eat. For green food' cabbages are 
fed three or four times a week. The above shows what is fed, and how 
much, but as a matter of fact, each coop is fed differently; and I do not 
know of anything more difficult for the novice to learn than how properly 
to feed fowls. Last night I sent my boy, 14 years old, to feed the hens ; 
this morning, an hour after the hens were off the roosts, in three of the 
coops there was still a lot of feed in the troughs. That means no scratch- 
ing, no work, sitting around half the day in a bunch ; and if that sort of 
thing was kept up it would soon mean few if any eggs. My fowls have 
had no green cut bone, no cut clover, no bought grit; doubtless all these 
things would be good for them, and ! might increase the egg yield, but my 
experience shows that very good results can be obtained without them. 
I keep ground oyster shells and fine gravel gathered from the wash by the 



Feeding the Hen. 63 

roadside and sifted, also broken crnrcoal, in each coop all the time." 

FEEDING HINTS. — The mash is useful, as it gives a good chance to 
feed fine meat or to give ginger or pepper and salt when needed. No single 
grain has just the right feeding "balance," wheat and oats coming nearest 
to it. We can make the mash mto any proportion we like. By using a 
good proportion of corn meal we can get the hens to eat many cheap forms 
of food which they would not care for alone. For example, wheat bran 
and gluten, two useful feeds will be eaten when mixed in a mash but not 
well when fed alone. The common mistake is to feed a thin slop in place 
of a dry, crumbly mash. The hens rightly object to the former. We 
have tried the experiment of feeding a well-balanced mash alone. The 
hens did not respond as they did when the same mixture of grains and 
meat was baked into a hard cake and crumbled for them. The hen does 
not chew her food like other animals. It is ground up in her gizzard by 
sharp stones or grit which she swallows. The hen does not seem to 
thrive for any considerable time when all work of grinding her food is 
taken away. Part of the ration should be in the form of dry grain. When 
hens are laying fast the mash is useful because the food it contains is 
quickly available. The hen can utilize it at once. She may not get it fast 
enough if compelled to grind all her own grain. 

Experiments have been tried in letting the hens balance their own 
ration by keeping a variety of food constantly before them. In our own 
experiments this proved a failure. Some of the hens grew dumpy and 
lifeless, while others remained active and fresh. They laid well for a 
time, but the general observation is that after a time the self-balancing 
system fails. With us the chief trouble was that, the hens missed the 
incentive of hunger. With food always before them they saw little need 
of scratching or working and became lazy, as most men would under sim- 
ilar circumstances. 

We conclude that most hens are more likely to eat too much of the 
fat forming foods if given a chance to do so. They are not so likely to eat 
too much of the muscle makers, hence the plan suggested of keeping beef 
scrap before them and regulating the feeding of corn or other grain will 
work better than the plan of keeping all before them. It is wise to remove 
what the hens leave of the mash after ten or fifteen minutes of eating. 
It is likely to sour in hot weather, and it is a good plan to make 
the hens understand that eating is a matter of business. 

GRAIN FOOD. — Corn is preferred by most hens. Throw down a mix- 
ture of all grains and they usually pick out the corn first. When properly 
"balanced" with meat or other forms of muscle makers corn is the best 
grain we have for poultry. If fed in the form of whole or cracked grain 
entirely some of the hens will eat little besides corn, and will put on fat 
when they ought to lay. That is one reason why a mash or a baked cake 



64 



The Business Hen. 




Pig. 34. SELF-FEEDING GRIT BOX. 



composed of a mixture of grain and meat is very useful for part of the 
ration. As we might naturally expect, corn is the best single grain for 
sitting hens where the object is to keep up the high animal heat, and for 
feeding birds that are intended for fattening. Corn gives a high color 
to the yolks of the eggs and to the meat. Wheat comes much nearer to 
being a "balanced ration" than corn, and where it can be bought to advan- 
tage is very useful. We can use our table of figures to learn whether 
it will pay best to buy wheat or with the same money buy corn and some 
form of meat. Wheat alone gives an egg with a pale yellow yolk. We 

find that wheat bran, which is 
the outer shell of the wheat ker- 
nel, has much the same effect. 
Oats are excellent in limited 
quantities, but are seldom bought 
to be fed whole, and on most 
farms are considered better for 
the horses. We have heard com- 
plaints when dry oats are fed in 
large quantities to hens. We 
would rather crush them to mix 
in the mash or boil them if fed 
whole. Some experienced poul- 
trymen say that oats give "spirit" to a hen as they do to a horse, and 
for that reason are very useful — better fed whole than crushed. Oatmeal 
is a favorite food for little chicks, the same as for young coifs or calves. 
Buckwheat is largely fed in some sections where the crop is grown. Hens 
probably give a better return for whole buckwheat than any other stock. 
Outside of buckwheat sections it would hardly pay to buy this grain. It 
is a stimulating food, as many people realize who eat too many buckwheat 
cakes. On the average farm corn is the chief food for hens, and the 
usual problem is to find some cheap supply of muscle makers in order 
to "balance" the corn. The advice to throw the whole or cracked grain 
into the litter in Winter so that the hens must scratch in order to find 
it is sound, and is the general practice. If this is done, however, the litter 
must be clean and dry. If we let the straw, leaves, hulls or whatever is on 
the floor get damp and filthy we should not throw the grain there. Such 
filth will give just the conditions needed to spread disease. We should 
never throw the grain into the mud or into filth. If we feed in the litter 
we must have clean floors with the litter frequently changed. 

MUSCLE-MAKING FOODS.— Meat in some form may be considered 
a necessity in the laying hen's ration. Left to herself the hen gets her 
supply in the form of insects. "Animal Meal" and similar powders are 
cooked meat and bone thoroughly dried and ground fine. They give a 




Feeding the Hoi. 65 

high per cent of muscle makers and may be thoroughly mixed in the mash. 
Cut bone is a very useful food which is not usually mixed with the 
mash but fed by itself. It consists of green or fresh bone, sliced or shaved 
into thin pieces by a bone cutter, which is turned by a crank and cuts 
or gouges off the end of the bone. Where a good supply of fresh bone 
can be obtained this cut bone is very useful. It cannot be kept sweet 
like the dry animal meal. We have seen cases where part of the carcass 
of a dead animal was hung up in the henhouse for the fowls to pick at. 
In cold weather it will keep reasonably sweet, and it is surprising to see 
how the hens will pick the bones clean. In some cases bones are roasted 
and smashed as well as can be with a sledge. 
Any form of meat is likely to loosen the 
bowels of the hen when first fed. Especially 
with cut bone or when feeding a carcass, the 
hens should be watched carefully and not fed 
too much. Linseed meal and skim-milk are 
often used as substitutes for meat but do not 
really take its place. Linseed is a laxative 
food and should not be fed heavily. Skim- 
milk is one of the most valuable of foods. ANOTHER SELF>EEDER 
Some farmers go so far as to say that young pigs and chicks cannot be 
properly raised without a supply of milk, but facts do not warrant the 
statement. The milk is very useful for mixing the mash or for feeding 
alone. We should always provide fresh water even when feeding milk. 
The feeding value of skim-milk has been demonstrated in boarding-houses 
and public institutions. Whenever the boarders are provided with all 
the milk they desire, the meat bill always falls off. Still, no one but an 
infant can depend on milk alone to supply all needed muscle makers. 

VARIOUS FOODS. — While we do not regard green food as a neces- 
sity in hen feeding there is no doubt that the hen feels better when pro- 
vided with grass or a substitute for it. Cabbage is the usual salad fed in 
Winter. It may be hung up by a string so that the hens must jump up to 
get it. The fact that they do jump for it proves that they crave some- 
thing of the sort. Beets or mangels are often fed, either chopped in two 
so that the hens can pick at them on the floor or hung on a nail driven into 
the wall. Clover hay is relished by the hen, and not only gives her a bulky 
food, but supplies muscle makers and mineral matter. The chaff and heads 
which fall on the barn floor when the hay is thrown down may be mixed 
in the mash. Some feeders chop the clover hay into short lengths, steam 
it thoroughly by pouring boiling water upon it, and then covering it up. 
It is fed hot in the middle of the afternoon in Winter, and we have seen 
hens devouring it as cattle would. Clover and Alfalfa are sometimes 
ground into a fine meal, which is excellent for mixing in the uiash. Fish 



66 The Business Hen. 

may be fed in moderate quantities to hens before it begins to decay. It 
can be cooked and thrown down for the hens to pick over. We must 
remember that the food has a decided effect upon the flavor of the egg, 
and that decayed or foul-smelling stuff will surely taint the egg. Sunflower 
seeds can be fed in small quantities. They, with buckwheat, are useful 
just before and during the hen's moult. It is thought by some that sun- 
flower seed will actually hasten the moult and induce the hen to shed her 
feathers early. While cotton-seed meal is fed in some parts of the South, 
we do not advise its use in the average tlock. Linseed or some form of 
meat is much safer. Boiled beans or cow peas are relished by hens. We 
prefer to feed them mixed with boiled potatoes or corn meal. 

GENERAL ADVICE. — A vigorous hen in full laying will eat about 
five ounces of well-balanced food each day. What is called a "mainte- 
nance ration" means the amount of food actually required to keep up the 
body of the hen without laying or gaining in flesh. When a mature hen 
stops laying and becomes idle 2]/ 2 or three ounces of food will be ample 
for her needs. When hens run in an orchard or in a grass park in the 
Summer it is a wise plan to feed the whole grain in the grass, sowing it 
broadcast, as one would for seeding. The hens hunt and scratch for it, 
and if not overfed will get it all. The exercise is just what they need, and 
they find many bugs and eat much grass while hunting for the grain. A 
mixture of equal parts of corn, oats and wheat is good for this broad- 
casting. Hens like a variety, and some win pick out corn one day, oats 
another and wheat at another time. Where hens can run at large they 
pick up 40 per cent or more of their food. The skilled feeder comes to 
know when they have had enough. Hens of the different breeds vary in 
their food habits. The lighter breeds, like Leghorns, seem to be more 
intelligent than the heavier fowls, and are not so likely to over-feed. The 
Leghorns will stand a heavy feeding of corn better than Plymouth Rocks 
or Brahmas. The latter should have a fair supply of meat and seem to 
require green food even more than the lighter fowls. Some authorities 
have claimed that it is not necessary to keep oyster shells or other sup- 
plies of lime before the hens, because the food contains enough of that 
substance. The hens do not agree with these authorities, for they empty 
the shell boxes and would not do so if the lime were not needed. We 
should keep a full supply of lime before them. Ground bone is excellent 
for this purpose, but in the Eastern States oyster shells are usually cheaper. 
It is the practice of some farmers to haul a load or two of shells from 
neighboring fish markets every year. These are scattered on the ground 
in front of the barn, and the wagon wheels and horses' hoofs grind them 
up gradually. The hens help themselves as they feel inclined, and if the 
shells do not wear down as fast as needed a few minutes' work with an 
old hammer will hurry them along. 



Feed iiiii the Ihn. 



67 




Fig. 36. STOVEPirE FEEDERS. 



On sandy land hens will gener- 
ally find all the "grit" they need. 
The object in supplying this 
"grit" is to furnish the sharp 
little stones which, in the hen's 
gizzard, grind up the hard food. 
There is no grit in the little 
chick as it leaves the incubator, 
and it must be supplied in the 
brooder. That is why many 
poultry keepers keep the bot- 
toms of the brooders covered 
with clean, sharp sand. Some 
of the "chick foods" consist of 
mixed grains and a quantity of 
crushed stones, the latter fur- 
nishing the chicks with the needed "grit" ; of course the hens must be 
supplied with fresh water, for they drink frequently, and we must remem- 
ber that over 60 per cent of the egg is water. Avoid a drinking dish that 
the hens can walk into. A covered feeding dish for the mash is best, one 
that only permits the hen to put in her head. Salt in small quantities 
helps the hen, but it is a poison when used to excess. It is more necessary 
when hens are yarded than when they run at large. The proper feeding 
of a hen can only come through long and patient experience. It "looks 
easy" but proves a hard job. 

The best feed troughs have a cover which protects the food and 
prevents the hens from stepping into it. Two good forms are shown at 
Figs. 32-33. These are hinged at the side or end, so that the cover is easily 
raised for cleaning. A convenient self-feeding box for shells or grit is 
shown at Fig. 34. Another simple style of self-feeder appears at Fig. 
36. This is made from pieces of stovepipe. They are closed at one 
end, with small holes cut at the side near the bottom. They are hung 
from the roof by means of wires, so that the 
bottom hangs near the roost platform. They 
can be used for feeding charcoal, shells or grit. 
A drinking fountain made by inverting a tin 
can over a smaller dish is shown at Fig. 37. 
For those who do not care to bother with home- 
made devices, excellent drinking fountains may 
be had from all dealers in poultry supplies, and 
they are so cheap and durable that no one need 
FlG 37 be without adequate means for supplying hens 

DRINKING FOUNTAIN. and chicks with pure water. 




CHAPTER XI. 

The Colony Plan. 

By this is meant the plan of letting the hens run at large in a field. 
They are housed in small buildings scattered about the field — 40 or 50 to 
the house. Mr. O. W. Mapes keeps about 1,500 hens on the colony plan, 
and the following story of one day's work will give a good idea of the 
way such a farm is conducted. Mr. Mapes selects the best hens for breed- 
ers, and they are kept by themselves in small houses. Under this system, 
while the hens mingle during the day, they usually go back to their own 
houses at night. The colony system is best adapted to the production of 
Summer eggs. Mr. Mapes does not claim a heavy yield in Winter, yet 
with his systetm of handling his hens averages a profit of over $1 each per 
year. This is the way the work is done. 

"My son and partner proposes to take full charge of the poultry and 
pigs, while 1 care for the cows and horses. This will give us a chance to 
form some opinion of how much poultry it would require to furnish a 
full day's work for a man, under better and more ideal conditions. He 
was up about five o'clock, and had things well under way when 1 
reached the barn. While breakfast was being prepared he proceeded first 
to mix his morning batch of feed for the hens. There are 1,482 of them, 
and he dumps four baskets of balanced ration into the box on the old 
buckboard. '1 his weighs 35 pounds to the basket, making 140 pounds in all ; 
100 quarts of skim-milk are then poured on it, and the whole well mixed 
with a shovel. This takes about 15 minutes. I have found the follow- 
ing mixture to give very satisfactory results both where fowls have free 
range and when confined in yards with nothing else whatever in the way of 
food, not even green food of any kind. Oyster shells, grit and water were 
supplied, of course, but I hardly class those as food : Wheat bran, five 
pounds ; wheat middlings, five pounds ; cracked corn, 10 pounds ; cornmeal, 
10 pounds; animal meal, two pounds. To this should be added enough 
skim-milk to wet into a mash. It makes a very good mixture without 
milk, using water instead, but milk is an improvement. For small chicks 
the cracked corn should not be very coarse. It is as well to use coarse 
ground cornmeal in place of cracked corn for the small chicks. For larger 
chicks and for hens I prefer the cracked corn in order to give the gizzard 
a chance to perform its normal functions. He passes the end of the long 
brooder house on his way to breakfast, giving a pull on the end of a long 
wire projecting out through the siding. This takes about two seconds, 
and raises the small drop doors in each of the 10 brooder apartments, 
admitting about 1,000 chicks to the outdoor runs for exercise, fresh air, etc. 



The Colony Plan. 69 

FEEDING THE CHICKS.— "The first job after breakfast is to feed 
the chicks in the brooder house. A barrel of balanced ration and a can of 
skim-milk stand convenient in the long hall as he enters. This hall runs 
the whole length (rear) of the 60-foot building, and is four feet wide. 
The first two pens contain about 100 chicks each that are four weeks old. 
For these he dips about IV2 pound of feed in his basin, and pours on 
enough skim-milk to wet it. After giving it a few stirs with his big 
iron spoon he is ready for business, but not more ready than the chicks 
on the other side of the wire partition. To those who are not accustomed 
to it, the feeding of 1,000 chicks is an interesting sight. To us who are 
used to it it is only work. It requires a little skill to open the gate and 
step into a pen of 100 hungry chicks, without stepping on them, or allowing 
any of them to jump out into the hall. See him dash a morsel of feed 
through the wire gate, to the farthest corner of the pen. The wild 
scramble which follows furnishes his opportunity to step inside and allow 
the spring to close the gate behind him. A hundred pairs of wings are 
instantly spread, and as many of his white pets land on his basin as can 
get a foothold. Brushing them gently aside, he places half of his feed in 
the trough, giving the remainder to the chicks in the next pen. Pens 
3 and 4 contain about the same number of chicks that are three .weeks old. 
For these he mixes a little less of the feed, still less for pens 5 and 6, 
which are two weeks old, and about 12 ounces for pens 7 and 8, which are 
only a week old. Pens 9 and 10 are reserved for next hatch, now coming 
out of their shells. They will get water to drink, and bread crumbs 
moistened with milk to eat for first four or five days. After that they 
get same as the rest, and nothing else whatever except grit and water. 
This ends the morning duty for the chicks. 

INCUBATOR WORK.— "The incubators come next. These are in 
another building, partly underground, also used as a shop. The first 
thing he does on entering is to light a lamp and take the reading of the 
thermometers. No. 1 read 103 degrees. These eggs have been set a week, 
and this heat would have been all right a few days ago during the hot 
wave, but it has now turned decidedly colder, and he gives the set screw 
a slight turn to the left. No. 2 is hatching to-day, and is not to be opened. 
The chicks are crowding against the glass door so thick that it is almost 
impossible to see the thermometer. Passing to No. 3 he reads 104 degrees. 
The animal heat in these eggs has raised the temperature since yesterday, 
but in view of the change in weather conditions, this is all right. The 
trays of eggs are next removed to the long work bench, the eggs turned 
and allowed to air while the lamps are trimmed and filled, when they are 
returned to the incubator and the doors closed. 

THE HENS.— "Tt is now fi.'io A. M. ; and he is ready to feed the hens 
By the time he has done a few odd chores about the barn, harnessed his 



70 The Business Hen. 

horse to the buckboard, and got under way, it is seven o'clock. His tools 
are a small fire shovel for dipping the wet mash, a large iron spoon for 
scraping any dirt from the troughs and a couple of feed pails. A medium- 
sized shovelful represents 12 ounces of dry feed, and his aim is to allow a 
shovelful of mash to each eight hens. Glancing at the figures on the 
inside of the door of pen No. 1 tells him that this flock contains 49 hens 
(last count) and he gives them six shovelfuls of mash, and opens the small 
drop door which allows them free range and a drink of water at the brook 
or pond. There are 35 flocks, and this is repeated until all are served. 
He finds a few troughs that are damp, showing that yesterday's supper 
had not been all eaten until morning. These have their allowance slightly 
reduced. By eight o'clrck he is back to the barn, and has a couple of pails 
of feed left in his box. We have settled down to two feeds a day of this 
mash for the hens, and nothing else except what little grass, grit, water, 
etc., they find in the fields. Price of wheat and corn has got so high that 
we find the balanced ration at $30 per ton is less expensive, and I expect 
less sickness and better health than where grain is kept constantly before 
them. Jesse only found two dead chicks under the brooders this morning, 
and no dead hens. This is less than our usual mortality. Crushed oyster 
shells are. always kept scattered about in abundance. 

PLAN OF BUILDINGS. — "The houses I use for laying stock are only 
10x12 feet on the ground, with shed roof. The front is eight feet high, and 
faces south. The north side is five feet four inches high. On the south 
side is a door for general use, a small drop door 6x8 inches for hens to 
pass in and out, and one good-sized window. The large door is near the 
east end, the small door near the middle, and the window near the west end. 
This permits the afternoon sun the greatest sweep of floor space in Winter. 
The table for droppings is 2 l / 2 feet above the floor, and extends along the 
whole north side of the room. Under the table, on this north side, is cut 
a small door 2 l / 2 feet high and one foot wide. Aside from this, the house 
is as near airtight and windproof as matched boards and building paper 
will make it. The small door under the roosting table on the north side 
is kept tightly closed in Winter, and in Summer it is protected with wire- 
cloth and kept open. This permits a free current of air to circulate 
through the house and out at the open window on the opposite side, with- 
out striking the hens on the perches above the table. I formerly kept 
40 hens in each house, but recently have increased to 50 each. The 1,500 
hens probably roam over nearly half of our farm of 70 acres, as their 
roaming ground covers quite a distance from the buildings in all directions. 

BROODER LAMPS.— "Next on the programme come the trimming 
and filling of the brooder lamps. These rest on the floor, and are put 
under the brooders from the hall, through large openings in the partition, 
leaving them exposed to full view from the hall, and giving them plenty 



The Colony Phut. 71 

of pure, cool air. A long shelf at convenient height contains an oil can. 
matches, lamp-rag, etc. The lamps are lifted to the shelf, the screw cap 
removed and filled. A puff of the burning lamp tells him when it is full. 
The oil can is always left open so that no gas can gather in ii to cause an 
explosion. Now the lamp is extinguished, the hinged burner turned back 
without removing the tin chimney, and a sharp knife drawn across the 
top of wick tube, removing soot, charred wick, etc. As soon as the 
burner is wiped clean, care being taken to remove all particles of dirt from 
the perforated brass which admits fresh air to the flame, the match is 
applied. The burner is still hot, and the piece of emery paper above the 
shelf is so located that the same stroke which ignites the match, brings it 
across the top of the wick, and lights it, without waiting to see whether the 
wood of the match is going to ignite. Five quarts of oil and 15 minutes' 
time are required for the 10 lamps. They will need no more attention for 
24 hours. The brooders in Nos. 9 and 10 must be got ready for the chicks 
now hatching. They are scraped as clean as possible, smeared with 
kerosene as a preventive of lice, and the floor under the hover covered 
with sand. They will be nice and warm by the tune the chicks are ready 
for removal to-morrow. The drinking fountains are next filled with fresh 
water, and the regular morning work is accomplished by 8.30 A. M. 

PACKING EGGS. — "The work of cleaning, stamping and packing the 
eggs for the market usually falls to some of the women folks, but Jesse 
relieves them of it to-day. There are 845 eggs in the baskets gathered 
yesterday. These are first placed in a large tin pan, and sufficient luke- 
warm water poured over them to cover them. With a washrag spread over 
the palm of the left hand he takes them out of the warm water one by 
one with the right hand, gives one end of the egg a turn against the cloth- 
covered palm of the other hand, reverses and gives the other end of the 
egg a turn, laying them in regular rows on a thick soft cloth covering the 
long table on which he works in the wash room. An occasional egg that 
is badly stained is laid one side, to be recleaned later cai with vinegar oi 
sapolio. The heat retained from the lukewarm water in the pan causes 
them to dry quickly as they lie on the soft cloth, retaining the peculiar 
glow of the new-laid egg. Before he packs them in crates, each egg is 
touched with a small rubber stamp, made on a very soft air cushion, 
placing the name and address of the producer on its shell. Every egg we 
ship to market is expected to carry a little bit of character with it, and 
send back in return a little bit of extra cash. It will take him about two 
hours to clean and pack the 845 eggs, and while he is doing it I drive to 
town with our regular shipment of eggs, and bring back our regular supply 
of skim-milk. He would have had ample time for this also. The advent 
of wife and baby has not spoiled his zest for the boyish sport of fishing. 
Long before my return from town he is at the pond, with rod and gun, 



72 The Business Hen. 

looking for a mess of fish, and a large hen hawk he has had his eye on 
for several days. The chicks two weeks uld and less got a light lunch 
of feed before he started out, from the same barrel as for breakfast. The 
older chicks were getting hungry, too, but must wait for their regular 
three meals a day. 

AFTERNOON WORK.— "After dinner the same routine of feeding 
the chicks is gone through as in the morning. He now has time on his 
hands again until three o'clock, and improves the opportunity to clean up 
his buggy and harness. At :s P. M. the buckboard is again loaded with 
mash for the hens, using about 20 pounds less than for the morning feed, 
since a little was left in the box. The hens are at liberty this time, and 
come to meet him in large numbers, the wagon often being covered with 
the greedy white beauties. This is the weak spot in feeding a number of 
flocks that have free range. A little practice, however, enables one to 
apportion the feed quite uniformly. 

EVENING FEED. — ""J he pig? get their supper (same as breakfast") 
as soon as the hens are all fed, and at 4.30 Jesse starts out with five big 
baskets to gather up the eggs. It takes him a few minutes more than an 
hour to gather them and carry them up to the house, and he has sot as th« 
result of the day's work. By 5.45 the chickens are again fed. and the 
eggs in the incubator turned. This finishes the day's work, all except 
pulling the wire in the brooder house and closing the entrances to the hen- 
houses. He has used 260 pounds of feed, costing at $H0 per ton, $3.90, 
and 4 l / 2 cans of skim-milk, costing 10 cents per can. for the hens. This 
is a total of $4.35. The market quotation for eggs to-day is Y! l / 2 cents. 
We get five cents per dozen above market quotations, for our guaranteed 
eggs at pre-t'i;t :.:' ' cents. The 804 eggs, which is rather under the 
daily average for the past week, are thus wortli $15.07. leaving a margin oi 
profit of over $10 aside from my prospective profits in the growth of the 
I igs and br >ilers. This is not a big story, but it has the merit of being 
literally true. When our henhouses were first built, we used to close the 
entrances at night by pressing an electric button. The expense of keeping 
the battery charged, and the trouble of keeping the line in perfect order 
has caused it to fall into innocuous desuetude. We are now arranging to 
drop and raise the doors by pulling a wire, after the plan in use in our 
brooder houses." 



CHAPTER XII. 

A Market Gardener's Hens. 

We, that is my wife and I, own a small farm of 30 acres, which we 
are devoting to a variety of interests; chief of these are the growing of 
small fruits, market garden and truck crops ; but we also keep two cows, 
about 20 hogs, a dozen hives of bees and a flock of from 125 to 130 hens. 
We have kept accurate records, and find that in four years during the six 
months that require more or less housing the flock has averaged 37 eggs to 
each 100 hens per day. The flock comprised quite a number of older hens 
a part of the time. A difference is plainly seen in the last year of the 
table below, when the entire flock consisted of pullets. The number of 
dozens laid each month is as follows: 

1899. 

1900. 

November 29 

December 64 

January 145 

February 143 

March 162 

April 162 

There has been something of a variety of breeds in this flock. Good 
grade mongrels with a large dash of Leghorn blood, purebred Barred 
Plymouth Rocks, Black Minorcas and White Wyandottes all figured largely 
in the flock at some time during the period, and they showed very little 
difference in their laying qualities. What slight difference I could detect 
was to the credit of the Wyandottes, and the entire flock is now composed 
of that breed. As the hens have occupied the same quarters, and the treat- 
ment has been practically the same during the whole period, I will describe 
both in detail. Small fruits and truck crops are grown in considerable 
quantities ; these are largely sold at retail, and between managing the work 
in the fields and marketing the crops my time is pressingly occupied during 
the Summer; but as we do not board the help my wife, who is a true lover 
of hens and chickens, rears the young stock and takes general oversight 
of the poultry department. Under her care the pullets are always in prime 
condition in the Fall. Only Summer crops are grown, and the men are 
hired only for the busy season. So after the season is closed by frost in 



1900. 


1901. 


1902. 


1901. 


1902. 


1903. 


53 


47 


59 


97 


74 


90 


107 


115 


153 


94 


100 


167 


138 


163 


201 


138 


150 


189 



74 The Business Hen. 

the Fall there is no produce to market but eggs and butter, and these are 
sold at wholesale and sent by a neighboring butcher. Our market, Harris- 
burg, is eight miles away. Then, being relieved from the press of Summer 
work, I give my first attention to the care of the hens and other live stock. 
To show how well such work may be made to pay even in a small way, 1 
will state that the gross receipts at present for the butter and eggs from 
two cows and 130 hens are at the rate of about $60 per month. The five 
or six hours each day that are not required for this work I usually devote 
to pruning and general preparations for the next season's work. 

WINTER MANAGEMENT. — Having on hand the proper number of 
hens or pullets — the latter preferred — well-bred, well-reared and vigor- 
ous as possible with the first approach of uncomfortably cool weather 
in Fall they are confined to their houses in the early morning and on 
stormy days. As the season advances they are shut in entirely, ex- 
cept that when the weather is fine and there is no snow they are oc- 
casionally allowed to run in the yard for 10 or 15 minutes, and then re- 
turned. During mid-winter they have been constantly confined i< r 
two months at a time with no bad results. The entire flock is housed 
in two separate apartments which are by no means ideal. The larger 
of these is a room 12x28 feet, arranged in the northwestern end of the 
basement of a bank barn. Necessarily the windows are in the north- 
west and southwest sides ; hence, they are not well adapted for the admis- 
sion of either sunshine or ventilation. These defects are reduced by a 
door which opens to the southeast under the "overshot" of the barn. This 
door is fitted with a screen, hence can be left open when necessary. Tho 
rear wall of this room of course is of stone, the other three are of matched 
boards. The floor consists of packed clay, except a section 12x12 feet 
in the rear, which is of boards ; this is occupied by the roost. As may be 
supposed from its location, this room is just barely dry enough not to give 
trouble. The smaller is a house of the common shed-roof construction, 
measuring 7x30 feet. This is built of rough boards and battened. It has 
a good exposure, but is too high and narrow, which makes it colder than 
it would otherwise be. The floor is of clay throughout. The roost in this 
house occupies a space of 7x10 feet. In each house the perches are low, 
18 inches, are built in one. piece trestle fashion and rest on the floor, so 
they are easily kept free from lice and moved for cleaning the house. 
Besides the roosts the furnishings in each house consist of a row of a dozen 
nest boxes, a self-feeding shell-box, a galvanized iron trough for water, a 
box for the dust bath and several wooden troughs for feeding mash. 
There is nothing about the buildings that may not be arranged or built 
on almost any farm at moderate cost. The space not occupied by the roosts 
is covered with a litter of forest leaves, in which all the grain is fed. 1 
have never found anything near so well adapted to the purpose as leaves. 



. 1 Market Gardener's Hens. 75 

GENERAL CARE. — Once a week the floors are thoroughly cleaned, 
the manure is scraped up, the soiled litter removed, the whole floor 
swept and then fresh leaves put in. This is very important, and must 
not be postponed, as nothing will cause hens to lose their tone and 
vigor more quickly than eating from fold litter. Of course vent' 1 
is freely given by opening windows or screened doors so as not to i 
a draft. In severe weather all is kept close, ventilating thoroughly 
two or three times a day when the hens are busy. Clean water is 
given every morning and warm water added when cold enough to 
freeze. The dust bath is renewed once in two weeks. No roosters 
are kept in the flock. The food consists of corn, oats, wheat, corn- 
chop and bran, beef scrap, cabbage, hay and milk. The quantity the 
hens will eat varies with the number of eggs produced ; but last Winter, 
when the flock was at its best, and the quantity of food had been the same 
for more than a month, I took a note of the exact quantity, and comparinft 
this with the amount fed this season since they are in full laying condition 

1 find it is practically the same. The quantity for 100 hens per day is about 
as follows: Corn, 3% quarts; oats, six quarts-; wheat, five quarts; corn- 
chop and bran, mixed equal parts by weight for the mash, six quarts; bee! 
scrap, one pint every second day; cabbage, three or four small to medium 
heads. About a peck of hay shattering?, mostly clover, such as collects 
where hay is thrown down, is given every few days. 

EEEDTNG SYSTEM.— Not less important than' the variety and 
quantity of food is its proper distribution throughout the day. In 
this it is well to remember the conditions in the Spring that usual!} 
induce the laziest hen to lay. The warm weather, new grass and 
insects coax her out. and she eats all day long, but only a little at a 
time, she becomes interested and busy. This is the vital point. No 
moping hen ever laid many eggs. With these facts in view the hens 
arc fed little and often, six times in a day, a? follows: Early in the 
morning they are given T .'■ quart of oats. They wake up and take 
some exercise scratching for this, and then at eight o'clock they get their 
mash. At 10 o'clock 1 r < quart of oats are again given and the same at 

2 P. M, The noon feed consists of two quarts of wheat, and the evening 
feed, which is intended to be all they will eat, is ?,V 2 quarts of corn, three 
quarts of wheat and V/ 2 quart oats. The cabbage is invariably fed in the 
evening after the grain. Milk and beef scrap are mixed in the mash. I 
have found mangels a fair substitute for cabbage. Caution should be 
exercised net to overfeed cither of these or any other "greens," as it is 
sure to can^e a derangement of appetite. It will be noticed that oats are 
fed in small quantities and often. I consider them a very important pari 
of the ration on account of their bulk, but experience has made me cautious 
of feeding any large quantity at a time. Now, to those not accustomed te> 



7C 



The Business Hen. 



giving any but the most ordinary care to their hens, the foregoing may 
seem like all too much "fuss and feathers" to obtain eggs even in Winter; 
but the hen trust has its price and it is doubtful if eggs can be had in 
quantity for much less. After all if the work is done methodically it is 
not such an endless round as may at first appear. Thus, in beginning the 
morning chores, I first give the hens their bit of oats, a "scratch" we call it, 
after doing the other work the mash is given. The noon feed comes in 
with the rest of the stock feeding. The evening chores are begun by giving 
the hens their grain; then after gathering the eggs the cabbage is dis- 
tributed. This leaves no extra running after the chickens, but to give 
them their "scratch" at 10 and two o'clock. This requires but a few 
minutes when I am about the barn, and when in the field pruning or absent 
from home my wife says it gives her exercise as well as the hens. Some 
one will be sure to ask what is to be done if the hens lack appetite. I must 
say I have had little trouble in this line. It is natural for hens to eat 
heartily if conditions arc right. If they are fed lightly and often during 
the day, with a full feed at night, a proper ration of proper bulk; if pro- 
tected from drafts and floors are kept clean; if, when making a change of 
food, care is taken to feed sparingly at first there should be little trouble. 
I have never had anything so serious but what was easily corrected bj 
feeding scantily for a day or two. Perhaps the old saying: "Eternal vigi- 
lance is the price of success" does not apply better anywhere than to man- 
aging hens in Winter, but I think where the vigilance is exercised the 
success is sure. 



HOMEMADE GRAIN SCREEN.— Examine a sample of cracked 
corn and you will be surprised to see how much fine meal it contains. 

When this feed is thrown on 
the ground most of the meal 
is wasted, as the chicks cannot 
pick it up easily. Mr. J. E. 
Stevenson saves this waste by 
using the device shown here- 
with. A hopper is arranged at 
the top of the stairs. Screens 
one foot wide and three feet 
long are made out of three 
sizes of wire netting. These 
screens run under the stairs 
and the hopper feeds into the 
coarser one. These screens 
sift the corn into three sizes and save a good share of the meal. 




CHAPTER XIII. 
The Boy's Hens. 

We moved to town one Winter and were able to hire a small henhouse. 
We had sold the best pullets on the farm, and had left only a mixed lot 
of old hens and young roosters. We took about 20 of these birds to town, 
killing and eating them from time to time. Early in February there were 
only three hens left, and the little boy begged for them, so that he might 
try "the chicken business." His best argument was that the table scraps 
would nearly feed the hens, thus turning what we would not eat into what 
we would be glad to have. I thought he would soon tire of it, but to my 
surprise he became interested, and gave his hens good care. By mixing a 
small amount of wheat bran with the scraps he kept the hens laying and 
in good condition. When I saw that he had become interested enough to 
work for the hens I knew that he had caught the chicken fever. An indus- 
trious hen may lead a lazy boy into habits of hustle. I told the boy that if 
he could make his three hens lay 13 eggs in a week, I would start him with 
a larger flock. The next week they laid 15 eggs. Of course the boy, like 
most beginners with poultry, felt sure that if he could make three hens 
lay well, there is no good reason why he could not do as well with 30, 300 
or 3,000. It takes a large unpaid grain bill to cure one of that idea. 

BUYING HENS.— We went to New York for new hens. Those left 
on the farm were poor specimens, and the boy wanted to try different 
breeds. I have bought live poultry. in New York many times. One year 
I bought 150 hens and pullets, and imported roup, lice and various other 
troubles. Eggs from those New York hens cost me eight cents apiece 
through January and February, but they laid fairly well in the Summer, 
and just about paid for their feed and original cost. I conclude that hens 
usually sent to the live market are just about such culls as we had at the 
farm. It stands to reason that no one will knowingly sell a good laying 
hen for meat any more than they would sell a good Jersey cow for beef. 
We found one place where a number of good hens had been sold to close 
out an estate, and the dealer, who knew a good hen, had sorted out the 
best to sell as layers. Crowded into his coops and fed nothing but corn, 
they were laying eggs enough to pay for their food twice over. After 
much debate the boy bought three Brown Leghorns, three White Wyan- 
dottes, one White Leghorn and one Light Brahma. As it turned out he 
would have done better if "he had bought all Brown Leghorns, but he 
wanted to test the different breeds. You may read about such things, but 
it is better to learn from your own experience ! 



78 The Business Hen. 

STARTING THE HENS. — These birds came out by express, and the 
boy was all ready for them. He had bought a package of "chicken powder" 
which looked like a mixture of fine tobacco and sulphur. He took one 
hen at a time, held her up gently by the legs and dusted the powder into 
her feathers, taking care to work plenty of it under the wings and around 
and under the tail feathers, and along the neck and shoulders, as these 
are the hardest places for the hen to reach. The boy learned from the 
poultry dealer not to run or shout at a hen if she gets away, or to pull and 
shake her if she flutters in your hand. You must be as gentle as possible 
with your hens if you expect them to lay. The laying hen is active, lively 
and nervous, but she does not want you to string up her nerves. The boy 
expected that when his 11 hens were put together in the house they would 
act like sisters, and have only one ambition — that of laying eggs ! Instead 
ot that the three original hens singled out the Light Brahma and attacked 
her vigorously. Hens often sh< \v these strange dislikes, and when taken 
to a new place they always "dry up" for a time and will not lay until they 
feel at home. The Brown Leghorns were first to call their new place home 
and begin to lay. The White Wyandottes followed, but the Light Brahma 
was very slow.. 

FEEDING A SMALL FLOCK.— The table scraps and wastes and 
parings from vegetables and fruits gave these hens more than half the food 
they required. In order to provide the remainder the boy mixed the fol- 
lowing: Two parts by weight of wheat bran, one part cornmeal, one part 
of wheat middlings and one-half part animal meal. This was fed in the 
form of a dry crumbly mash in the morning, with a good handful of clover 
heads and leaves mixed with it. The hot water used for rinsing off the 
breakfast plates was good to dampen. this grain. Wheat bran is one of 
the best grains for hens, but they do not like it when fed alone. Of all 
grains corn in some form is best relished by poultry, and cornmeal or 
cracked corn should go in the mash. There are only two good reasons 
why a mash should be fed — it gives a good chance to provide warm food 
and enables us to feed meat in the right proportion. I am quite sure that 
the mixture of grain and meat baked into a cake and crumbled up for 
feeding would pay better than a soft mash. The boy fed whole corn at 
night, and made the common mistake of most beginners of overfeeding his 
hens. He kept too much food before them. Some of it soured. The hens 
lost their ambition to work and hunt for food. The Brown Leghorns 
held their ambition longest, because it was part of their breeding, but 
what hens or men ever do their best when they know the good things of 
life are being wasted on them? It took the boy some time to learn what 
every feeder must know, that the hens must be made to scratch for most of 
their food. Maybe the boy learned something about his own habits of 
industry by watching these hens. Some things at least he did well. He 



The Boy's Hens. 79 

kept plenty of clean water and oyster shells before the hens at all times, 
and he kept the house clean. The hens responded— at least some of them 
did — and owing to the low cost of the (able scraps gave us eggs that cost 
less than half a cent apiece while they were worth four cents in the local 
market. 

A LARGER FLOCK.— Of course the boy, like all poultrymen, wanted a 
larger flock. Somehow we all come to think that if we could only have 
more land, or more cows, or more hens, we can make growth on our 
ability as we do on our stock. When we came back to the farm the boy 
found nine more hens, and a White Wyandotte rooster. The hens were a 
mixed lot, but the rooster was a good one. They had all had a hard 
Winter, sleeping in the barn or in an old henhouse without much care. 
The old farm chicken-yard was to be used as a garden, so the boy cut poles 
in the woods and helped to build a new yard at the back of an aban- 
doned ice house, which was a henhouse years before. He dug holes for his 
posts, and then a six-foot chicken fence was tacked around with a base- 
board nailed at the bottom. We have tried piling stones around the 
base, but this does not answer. The boy made clean nests of straw, dust- 
ing them well with his chicken powder. The roosts were not nailed 
down, but put in sockets, so that they can be lifted out and cleaned easily. 
Every morning he took a pickax and spade and dug up the ground in the 
yard, thus providing worms for the hens. There were many leaves and 
parings in the table scraps, but the boy pulled grass and weeds and fed 
them freely, for hens like green food. The boy began to understand 
something about the different kinds of lice that make hens miserable. 
The little mites that pass the day on the under side of the roost are bad 
citizens — night robbers, for they crawl up at night and attack the hens. 
We can make life a burden to them by keeping the under side of the 
roost well smeared with grease. Every now and then the roosts must be 
taken out and washed with boiling water, and then painted with kero- 
sene. The large gray lice that stay on the hens are easier to fight if we 
give the hens a fair chance to keep clean. A vigorous hen will dust in the 
dry soil or in a box of dry coal ashes and free herself of most of these 
lice. A good dusting with some "chicken powder" or fine tobacco will 
finish up. I know of people who read somewhere that kerosene is the 
thing to kill lice with, so they took some hens and rubbed kerosene over 
them! They could not have dine a worse thing, for it took hide and 
feathers off the hens. A mixture of lard and sulphur rubbed under the 
wings and at the base of the neck will help, but do not put pure kerosene 
on the hen. The boy found that there is little use fighting the lice on the 
hens if the building is neglected. Most old farm buildings are alive with 
vermin, which breed in filth, so that they must be kept clean. The manure 
ought to be scraped out twice a week at least. In spite of the "chicken 



80 



The Business Hen. 



powder" the nests will soon be alive. The hay or straw should be taken 
out and burned, and the boxes painted with kerosene before new nests are 
made. The whole inside of the house should be scrubbed out with boiling 
water, and whitewashed or sprayed with kerosene. The boy found to his 
cost that you cannot afford to neglect these things in an old house. He 
also found that some old building fitted up in this way cannot be made 
equal to a house built especially for hens. 

KEEPING UP THE FLOCK.— The boy started with the notion that 
"a hen is a hen," without much regard to her breeding or age. He had 
heard some one say that "a hen is a machine," and he knew that we can use 
the mowing machine and hayrake for many years. He was grieved to find 
that some of his hens were sad loafers. Three of those he bought in New 
York ate their fill of grain, and then instead of heading for the nests stood 
about dumpy and lazy. What was the matter with them? They and four 
of the farm hens proved to be at least four years old, and probably six. 
They were like our old mowing machine— worn out. One day the men dug 
through the yard to get at a cracked water pipe under the barn. They 
threw out thousands of worms. These old veterans ate so many that the 
next morning five of them were found dead, with their crops stuck full. 
The boy buried his beloved hens around peach trees, and with many tears 
learned that age in a hen is not entitled to respect. When Grandmother 
failed to step about as spry as her daughters we expected it, and were all 
glad to give her the most comfortable chair and the best light. The hen 
is sure to fail with age just as Grandmother did, but we do not keep her 
for the good she has done. So the boy began to understand that he must 
plan for new pullets each year and dispose of the old stock. He now saw 
that the hens he bought in New York were probably birds that had done 
their best, laying for some one else, and were then sold for meat. We are 
also likely to have accidents in the flock. One good hen tried to fly up 
to a high roost, but failed, and fell and broke an egg inside of her. She 
had to be killed. This taught the boy to have his roosts down low, and 
made it clearer still that we must have young pullets each year. 

PICKING OUT LAYERS.— Having seen the need of young hens the 
boy began to see that one young hen may be better than another. He 
could see that the men and boys we hired to work on the farm did not 
do an equal amount of work. Some did more and better work than others, 
though all wanted the same wages when working by the day. Sometimes 
the man who did the poorest job of work would eat most, or break most 
tools. There seemed to be much the same difference in hens. The Light 
Brahma waited nearly a month before she laid an egg, though she ate her 
full share, and then laid a dozen in succession. One of the Brown Leg- 
horns proved to be lazy. Of course the boy did not want any more drones. 
It may be fun to feed a lazy pet hen when some one else pays for the feed, 



The Boy's Hens. 81 

Lut when it means a loss of your own money, you soon get tired of it. The 
boy began to see if he could pick but the layers. He found it was not 
hard to do so. You can catch most of them on the nest. They go around 
singing and scratching, and the egg-layers are usually the liveliest hens and 
the best eaters. It is not safe to go by any single one of these signs. 
Sometimes a hen goes on the nest with no intention of laying. The lazy 
Brown Leghorn made more noise after laying one egg than the other 
two did over three, and the Light Brahma and the lazy Wyandotte ate their 
fill and then moped on the roost. You cannot tell layers by any one 
test, but after a good study of the actions of the hen you can pick them 
out. The boy had specimens of four different breeds in his little flock, 
and he found that all these breeds contained workers as well as drones. 
Before long he learned that half the hens did more than three-fourths of 
the laying. It was good business to eat the eggs from the lazy hens and 
keep those from the workers for setting. The boy had noticed how many 
children there are who "look like father and act like mother." This is the 
principle of breeding which hen men ought to learn by heart. The boy 
will learn later that some of the old hens may be good breeders, though 
their granddaughters may outlay them. 

BREEDING TO TYPE.— At first the boy though it wise to set eggs 
from all the best layers, no matter what color and shape they might be. 
Then he remembered that the poultryman wanted a dollar apiece for the 
Leghorns, while the spotted hens of all shapes and colors sold at a price per 
pound. Whenever people told him about a man who was doing well with 
poultry he was sure to find on that man's farm hens of one color and 
much the same shape. In years before, when we had all sorts of pullets, 
no one cared to buy them, but when we had bred pure Leghorns and 
Wyandottes a dozen people were after them. That showed him that if 
you expect to get the best price for your hens you must have them uniform, 
with the marks of some well-known breed. A spotted hen may be a fine 
layer, but you cannot make a buyer think so as you could if the hen were 
well marked, and had the true shape and appearance of one of the 
breeds that people know about. For instance, suppose you have Brown 
Leghorn hens and a White Wyandotte rooster, and you hatch the eggs 
from your best layers. The pullets may "act like mother" and lay well, but 
they will "look like father" and be spotted with all colors. No one would 
pay as much for such birds as they would if a Brown Leghorn rooster had 
been used. It is always an advantage to have birds that are salable as 
well as good layers. The boy began to see that if he was ever to have 
a flock of hens to be proud of he must make them as near alike as possi- 
ble, and hatch the eggs from the best. He finally made up his mind that 
he liked the Brown Leghorns best. When asked his reason he said : 



82 The Business Hen. 

"They lay well. They do not eat as much as the others. They are 
tame and not so "scarey" as the Whites. They do not try so hard to get 
out of the yard, and they are pretty !" 

As he grows older he will see a few more virtues and many more defects 
than he now sees in the Browns. For instance, the very fact that these 
little Brownies are so pretty with their varied plumage make- it all the 
more difficult to breed them true. This was his first idea of a "type" of 
hen that suited him, and I encouraged him in it, because it is the founda- 
tion of success to try to develop and maintain the things that we love and 
admire. 

As the boy studied his hens he found that two of the Brown Leghorns 
laid well, while the other was something of a shirk. One of the hens 
laid a much larger egg than the other, and as the small size of the egg 
is one of the weaknesses of the Browns the boy decided to keep all of the 
large eggs he could for hatching, keeping close to the principle that he 
wants his coming pullets to "act like mother." He wants to save his 
money and buy a good Leghorn rooster. 

Thus the boy begins to pick up the first principles of successful poultry 
keeping. He is working out on a small scale some of the problems of 
selection and feeding, the mastery of which have given men fame and 
fortune. These successful men grew into their success just as the boy 
is growing. At one time they knew less than he does. The reason they 
succeeded is that they kept on growing and learned to reason things out 
for themselves. One man may start with an old shed and a flock of 
mongrels; form his idea of type and select for it; study the wants of a 
hen and her comfort and grow into a comfortable business. People wiil 
pay for his care and thought when wrapped in feathers just as they pay 
for an author's thoughts when printed and bound into a book. Another 
man may start with the finest flock of purebred hens, go by printed rules 
alone, make no personal study of the hen, and fail. One man has hen in 
the heart — the other hen in the first laver of the head. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Marketing Pouliry Products. 

The professional poultryman, who keeps in close touch with his market, 
knows its peculiar requirements and the problems that each season brings. 
The man with only a few hens as a side issue, raising say 50 or 100 
chickens, is seldom so well informed on market matters, and may make 
mistakes that cut his profits in two. He may have sold through a careful 
dealer, who has told him how to dress and pack, or through a commission 
man of a type that takes whatever comes, and sells for what it will bring, 
without giving the shipper any tangible suggestions that might help make 
his offerings more salable. 

The first requisite in shipping poultry to a large market is to have 
something worth selling, and the next is to know a commission man who 
is worthy of selling it. Such a man is found only through experience, 
either one's own or a neighbor's, and when found he is worth sticking to. 
He will appreciate this, and in 10 years more money will have been made 
tnan by scattering the ship- 
ments about. 

In sections having a Hebrew 
population there is a steady 
demand for live poultry, which 
must be slaughtered under Fig. 38. CRATE OF LIVE POULTR1. 

supervision of their official 

butchers. The trade is heaviest at seasons commonly known as Jewish 
holidays, movable feasts. The exact dates for any year may be learned 
from dealers in live poultry. The principal feasts are the Hebrew New 
Years, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Laws, and Passover. In New York 
the receiving stations are centralized, and from these distribution is made 
to butchers. Fig. 38 shows a crate of live poultry, and Fig. 39 a lot 
of crates as piled on a wagon in West Washington market ready to be 
carted to the East Side Jewish sections where Kosher meat is sold. 
Fig. 40 shows a typical retail shop. The cuts of rooster and animal's 
head in the window indicate that officially prepared meats are on sale there. 
In the basement door the artist has inserted a scene familiar betore the 
recent regulations forbidding the exposure of meats on the street. The 
market woman is dissecting a fowl for a fricassee while the customer 
waits. This work is now done under cover. 

Broilers are received in market live and dressed, the latter dry-packed 




84 



The Business Hen. 




Fig. 39. LOADING UP. 



or iced. At Fig. 41 is a fav- 
orite crate for shipping live small 
chickens. Those shown weigh 
from Z l / 2 to 4 pounds per 
pair. Though many lighter are 
sold, the best prices are paid for 
those about the weight men- 
tioned. The crates are made of 
hard wood and are very durable. 
Some are 2 I ^x3j4 feet, and eight 
inches deep. Fig. 42 is a box 
of dressed broilers as put up by 
the meat-packing houses for 
shipment in refrigerator cars. 
The boxes contain two or three 
dozen according to size. Other poultry is also put in similar boxes. The 
farmer who ships in small quantities and does not have the advantage of 
refrigerator cars must ice his dressed chickens unless very near market 
or in cool weather. At bottom of page 85 is a barrel of iced poultry 
minus the burlap covering. In warm weather the icing must be thor- 
oughly done and the ice in close contact with the birds. This makes them 
wet and messy, but they can be wiped off and dried so as to look very 
well. There are various expedients for doing away with this bad appear- 
ance, such as wrapping each bird in heavy paper, but this is only partly 
effective, and about the best way is to pack alternate layers of cracked ice 
and poultry, and a good sized chunk of ice on top. 

As a rule the farmer is most interested in the Fall and Winter poultry 
market. He has something to sell for Thanksgiving, and clears out the 
rest of his surplus for Christmas and New Years. For Thanksgiving 

trade the weather is generally 
cool enough so that dry packing 
is safe. Boxes get rougher usage 
than barrels, being harder to 
handle, but a barrel is not so con- 
venient to pack in. Unless send- 
ing a very small quantity it is 
best to sort the poultry, putting 
hen and torn turkeys in separate 
packages, and the culls by them- 
selves ; or better, keep the culls 
to get in condition for a later 
market. If boxes are used, they 
Fig. 40. A "KOSHER" MEAT SHOP. should not be too large. Less 




Marketing Poultry Products. 



85 



Fig 




A COOP OP BROILERS. 




than a barrel in bulk is prefer- 
able. In very heavy packages 
there is some bruising from 
rough handling by freight or ex- 
press men, who seem to think 
that a heavy box is an invita- 
tion to them to do their worst. 
Various rules for packing have 
been given, such as putting them all one way, all breasts up, etc., but 
it is not always convenient to do this with long-geared turkeys, and 
about all that can be done is to fit them into boxes or barrels in what- 
ever way they will fill up the space so as not to shake about. Some pack 
in layers with straw or heavy paper between, which may be some ad- 
vantage, although straw, unless entirely 
free from chaff, sticks to the birds 
and is a nuisance. The safest way in 
packing is to follow the directions of the 
man who will handle the poultry, as mar- 
ket requirements differ, and he may have Fig. 42. 
good reason for special preferences. DRESSED BROILERS. 

In dealing with a large market it is necessary that the poultry arrive 
early. In smaller towns, where the shipper sells direct to the retailer, 
less margin is needed, but in New York most of it must go through the 
wholesaler's hands. Poultry for Thanksgiving should be on hand not later 
than Monday of that week, and the latter part of the previous week is 
better, as many retailers stock up then. 
If there is a scarcity, so that retailers 
cannot get supplies early, late arrivals 
may find a good demand, but the proba- 
bilities are that they will have to drag 
through the trade dullness always follow- 
ing a holiday. 

New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and 
Chicago demand undrawn poultry with 
head and feet on. The crop should be re- 
moved unless empty, but all poultry should 
be without food for several hours before 
killing. For Boston trade the general rule 
is to remove head, crop and entrails, mak- 
ing as small an incision as possible, and 
leaving in heart, gizzard and liver. Part 
of the neck should be cut off, the skin 
drawn, over, tied and trimmed neatly. 




Fig. 43. ICED POULTRY. 



8G 



The Business Hen. 




Fig. 44. METHOD OF KILLING TOT'LTRY. 



The Massachus- 
etts law forbids 
the sale of un- 
drawn poultry 
except w here 
there is no food 
in the crop or 
entrails, an ex- 
cellent law from 
a sanitary stand- 
point. Pittsburg 
demands drawn 
poultry w i t h 
heads and feet 
off. 

The b e s it 
method of kill- 
ing is sticking 
in the mouth 
with a sharp 
knife, while the 
bird hangs up by 
the feet. Here is 
the way it is 
done by one 
practical m a n. 
The picture 
shows the bird 
in the proper 
position. The 

wings may be 
locked together 
at the back by 
bringing one 
under the other. The 
The knife should 
Put the 



over the other and hooking the tip of the top win 

head is held in the left hand, the knife in the right 

have a good sized handle with the blade keen and sharp pointed 

blade down the throat just behind the head and draw it across with the 

point touching the bone. This cuts the jugular vein. Let the bird bleed a 

few seconds. Then put the point of knife and cutting edge against the roof 

of the mouth and force it into the brain cavity. Give a slight turn, 

severing the spinal cord. This releases control of the feathers, and some 

may be almost brushed off if done at once. This method is varied a little 



Mark cling Poultry 1' rod nets. 87 

by some, but there are always two essentials; first to cut the jugular vein 
and next pierce the brain, paralyzing the nervous system. The work is 
done very quickly when one understands it. Of course it is necessary to 
study out these details very carefully before attempting to kill a bird. 
Dry picking is preferable for most markets, but the feathers do not always 
loosen in the way described, and then it is necessary to scald. Scalded 
poultry will sell about as well if the skin is not torn and the birds are 
"plumped." This consists in dipping them in hot water for a few seconds 
after picking and then at once into cold water, where they remain about 
20 minutes. Roughly picked or bruised poultry is always discounted, so it 
pays to handle the birds carefully before killing, and to take off the feathers 
neatly. All animal heat must be removed before packing. This takes 
longer than is generally supposed, and neglect of it causes loss every year, 
when poultry known to be properly bled and only a short time on the road 
arrives at market in spoiled condition. 

Methods of working up a retail egg trade are described elsewhere in 
this book. For the general wholesale market the 30-dozen case is the 
standard package. Where one is near market these cases may be made 
heavy enough to use many times, but for long-distance shipments, where 
he expense of returning is too great, the crates are made of cheap 
naterial and go with the eggs. The eggs are separated by pasteboard 
partitions, which may be bought in quantity of any dealer in poultry 
supplies. Very large quantities of eggs come to New York from the 
Middle West and Southwest. As might be expected, those from the 
southerly sections usually sell lowest, heat damage during the collection 
of carloads being greater in the warmer latitudes. Eggs are graded as 
fancy, choice, good, fair, inferior, checks and dirties. Fancy eggs should 
be strictly fresh, and not more than a week old when sold, but what they 
should be and what they are do not always tally. The quality of the 
other grades is suggested by their names. Checks are slightly cracked 
eggs that are sorted out, crated by themselves, and sold for immediate use. 

Cold storage is the balance wheel of the egg and poultry trade, keeping 
it going at a comparatively even gait the year around, preventing the 
scarcity which causes prohibitive prices to all but the wealthy, and the 
glutted market, with figures below cost of production. The range of 
prices for a year will still show very high figures, such as 60 cents a dozen 
for new-laid eggs and 35 cents for fresh-killed poultry, yet there is no time 
when both eggs and poultry from storage, not fresh, but palatable and 
wholesome, may not be had at prices within reach of almost anyone. The 
scope of refrigeration has been much enlarged by dry air processes, which 
have made it possible to handle products that get musty under the damp- 
ness of ordinary ice storage. There are still many losses from improper 
handling, but good eggs properly stored may be" kept for a full year. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Marketing Eggs. 

The easiest money to be made in the poultry business is in marketing 
the products. A successful poultryman must be a good salesman. The 
extra money that may be secured by selling eggs to a special trade at an 
advanced price is almost clear sain. It should be 25 to 30 per cent addi- 
tional above the profit in selling at the highest wholesale price. The 
margin will vary from one cent per dozen in small towns to five to 10 
cents per dozen in large cities. It is not an easy matter to secure this 
high-class trade. Like everything else worth while, it requires years of 
effort and painstaking care. A poultryman must grow into his trade. 
High price is simply the premium paid for confidence in the goods. It is 
a just reward for a good reputation. Any neat and careful poultryman, 
however, should find no difficulty in raising his price two cents per dozen 
above the highest market in his neighborhood. As his customers become 
educated up to good eggs the price can be increased. The first essential 
in working up a special market is the ability to produce and deliver the 
goods. To do this three things are absolutely necessary; good eggs, an 
attractive package and regular delivery every week in the year. One is 
just as important as the other. 

GOOD EGGS. — There is a great difference in eggs. They must, first 
of all, be new laid, that is to say, not over one week old. If they are gath- 
ered regularly each day and placed in a cool, dry room, they should suit 
the requirements of the most delicate taste. Daily or twice a week ship- 
ments are unnecessary with a private family trade, and would greatly 
increase the labor of handling and keeping of accounts as well as multi- 
plying express charges. On the whole "eggs is eggs" when they go to 
or leave the average country store. A good farmer's good egg sells for 
no more than the poor farmer's poor egg when they once get into the class 
of ordinary "store-gathered" eggs, because they are in bad company. It is 
a positive injustice to the hens that laid the eggs, to the man who grew the 
grain to produce them, and to the one who gathers them thus to sell 
good eggs for the lowest possible price. The element of uncertainty as to 
just what is covered by the egg shell exaggerates the real difference and 
magnifies the premium paid for guaranteed quality. In other words, 
people are willing to pay an extra price rather than take any chances. 
Eggs are bought and sold largely "under sight and under seen" in the 
general market. While the general quality of market eggs has consid- 
erably increased in some respects of late years, due to the systematic 
handling of eggs by large dealers, the feature of age, which has much to 
do with quality, remains the same. 



Marketing Eggs. 89 

The eggs should be of large size. The customer who pays a good 
price is entitled to eggs that weigh not less than two ounces each. Eggs 
under two ounces should be sold to a special customer at a somewhat 
reduced rate. Small or medium eggs always suffer by contrast with large 
ones, but when placed in a crate by themselves th'ey always show off to 
better advantage, and as they have the same quality of freshness and neat- 
ness as the other eggs they should command a premium above the general 
market. Good eggs should also be uniform in color, and the color should 
suit the fancy of the customer. The New York City market requires a 
pure white egg. Boston has a decided preference for a dark brown egg. 
Other things being equal, a difference of at least two cents per dozen will 
be paid just on account of color in these and other markets. It is a 
common practice now to assort and ship eggs according to the color 
requirements of the respective markets. Uniformity of grade counts for 
as much in selling eggs as it does in marketing fruit. One would not 
expect to ship red, green and russet apples of large, medium and small size 
in the same barrel. Yet it is a rule, not an exception, to find all kinds of 
eggs, big ones and litttle ones, long ones and round ones, eggs with brown, 
white, speckled or cream-colored shells in the same crate when they leave 
the farm. The very fact that they are mixed in colors and sizes brands 
them as "common eggs" in the eyes of the purchaser. They give the 
impression of not having come from any particular place or any special 
breed, but from anywhere and everywhere; just "picked up" eggs. This is 
a serious handicap. In order to produce the highest priced eggs one must 
keep purebred fowls, not because their eggs are any better to eat, but 
because they are better to look at. 

Cleanliness is a necessity in selling fancy eggs. A dirty egg is a 
disgrace. It may be fresh, but no one will believe it. There are many 
degrees of cleanliness ; spotless clean, clean, tolerably clean and dirty. 
Eggs as they come from the nest are usually tolerably clean. They are 
never spotless clean until each egg has been carefully inspected and the 
faintest trace of stain or dirt removed. Much can be done to keep eggs 
from becoming soiled which will save a large amount of labor. Dirty hen- 
houses and yards cause dirty feet, which make dirty eggs. Clean nests 
will help to keep the eggs clean. Bright oat straw is one of the most 
desirable nest materials. Sawdust or clover hay and some other materials 
are apt to stain the shells. When cleaning eggs, both dry and damp cloths 
should be at hand. Sapolio is good to scour off a stain. A little sal soda 
in water will remove dirt more quickly. Vinegar and water will do the 
same thing. One should use as little water as possible. Washed eggs 
lose their natural finish and will not keep as well. Very dirty eggs, how- 
ever, should be put to soak. All eggs should be perfectly dry when placed 
in the crates, and covered so that dust cannot settle on them. This clean- 



00 



The Business Hen. 



ing operation is not expensive when done systematically. We pay under 
contract one cent per dozen for grading, cleaning and packing all of our 
eggs, both for market and for hatching. The person who does the work 
makes good wages. 

The quality of fancy eggs must be good as to flavor, firmness of white 
and color of yolk. Care therefore must be taken in the feeding of fowls 
to have plenty of green food and a certain amount of corn, both of which 
give to the dull yolks a deep yellow color. Very pale yolks, which are 
certain to follow prolonged feeding without the foods mentioned, are apt 
to be looked upon with suspicion by particular customers. It is true that 

excessive feeding 
of laying hens up- 
on foods which 
have a very pun- 
gent odor, such as 
onions or cabbage, 
will affect the fla- 
vor of the egg. 
Both turnips and 
cabbage, however, 
can be fed with 
perfect safety in 
limited quantities, 
especially if fowls 
are well supplied 
with other foods. 
THE PACK- 
A G E. — A good 
article is worthy 
of a neat package. 
Fig. 45. MAKING EGG CRATES. Appearances count 

for much in catching the eye or pleasing the palate. If eggs go to 
market in a neatly made, well varnished, carefully stenciled crate the 
customer has reason to expect that the same care used in packing the 
eggs has been exercised in producing and gathering them, and in this 
he usually is not mistaken. Good serviceable egg crates can be made with 
very slight expense. Most farmers should be able to make them. It is 
the most profitable kind of rainy day work. Fig. 45 shows a group of 
Cornell University poultry students making egg crates, which are used to 
deliver eggs from the College poultry plant. These crates have a capacity 
of multiples of three dozen; to hold either three dozen, six dozen, nine 
dozen, 12 dozen, 15 dozen or 30 dozen. Regular commercial egg crates are 
purchased for five to ten cents each with fillers. The best ends are used 




Marketing Eggs. 01 

to form the ends of the new crates of various sizes. Three-eighths-inch 
Georgia pine ceiling is used for sides and top, which is nailed with two- 
inch finishing nails. The bottoms are made from the best of the material 
taken from the sides of the old egg crates. Narrow cleats are placed on 
the sides for handles, and upon the top of the cover to make it solid. Two 
three-inch strap hinges and a hasp are placed on the cover. The whole 
box is then sandpapered if necessary, covered with hard oil finish, which 
makes a much neater looking package, easier to keep clean than one which 
is painted. The name of the farm or of the proprietor, with the home 
address and the products shipped, should then be stencilled on the top of 
the package, also upon the sides where room will permit. The Cornell 
stencil is in two parts. With the first part a large white egg, 10 inches 
long, is painted upon the box. When this is dry another stencil is used 
to print the words, "Cornell University, College of Agriculture, Poultry 
Products, Ithaca, N. Y. Quality Guaranteed." A neat stencil on any 
package is a splendid advertisement, and makes the chances of loss of 
crates in transit very much less. As a finishing touch we purchase little 
brass padlocks, with duplicate keys. They cost 12 l A cents each and they are 
money makers, not so much because they prevent stealing eggs, but because 
the wealthy customer is willing to pay a cent or more a dozen just for the 
sake of having his neighbor see that he gets eggs direct from the farm by 
express each week with a' padlock on the box. Our experience in working 
up a large private family trade in and about New York City is that the 
best advertiser is a pleased customer. To illustrate, we have one family 
that has purchased eggs from us for many years. They referred a friend 
to us, who became a regular customer, who in turn wanted us to send 
eggs to another friend. Another string of customers started by a wealthy 
man visiting the farm and finding us packing eggs for the private family 
trade. He asked why he could not have eggs sent to him also. He is one 
of our best customers at the present time, and through his friendship four 
others have been secured. Farmers who take Summer boarders, or those 
who sell produce to Summer hotels, have excellent opportunities for finding 
city customers for eggs. The private family trade, however, is not without 
its disadvantages. One of these is that there are a multitude of details 
in looking after a large number of comparatively small shipments ranging 
from six to 15 dozen. This makes a good deal of bookkeeping. Families 
are apt to leave the city at certain times during the year which necessarily 
interrupts the general output of eggs. However, some of our customers 
continue to have eggs shipped to their Summer resort, where they are 
willing to pay double express charges. The most serious difficulties 
have been the breakage by express companies. Occasionally they make 
good the loss, after much correspondence and delay. 



92 The Business Hen. 

REGULARITY OF SHIPMENT.— The people who pay high prices 
want their eggs on time, rain or shine. They usually want the same 
number per week the year round. One's capacity, therefore, to cater to 
this trade is somewhat measured by the number of eggs which he can 
produce during the months of greatest scarcity, namely October, November 
and December. We find, however, that our customers are very obliging, 
and stay with us over these periods with a somewhat diminished supply. 
In order to discourage excessive egg eating during the period of scarcity, 
we make our prices according to the law of supply and demand. While 
our prices are not as high perhaps as some are getting, we are quite well 
pleased with the results, but we are always looking for higher prices. Our 
scale of prices is 25 cents per dozen for April, May, June and July; 
35 cents for August and September ; 40 cents for October and November ; 
45 for December and January; 35 February and March. The customer in 
every case pays the express charges and returns the empty box. We found 
that there was less trouble from breakage where the customer who was on 
the spot was personally responsible for settling 1 with the express company 
for damage. These prices, therefore, net us about seven to eight cents 
per dozen by the year more than the highest wholesale market quotation 
for fancy nearby white eggs. During the Spring months, when most eggs 
are laid, a large trade in eggs for hatching takes care of most of the surplus. 
At the end of a hatching season the Summer hotel trade will handle any 
surplus which we may have at about 25 cents per dozen. Whatever the 
system of marketing, the problem of regularity of supply throughout the 
rear is the hardest one to meet, and in a measure it remains unsolved. 
With the best of care one cannot expect to get more than 10 to 15 eggs 
per day per 100 hens in large numbers during the months of October, 
November and December and not over 20 or 30 per cent from early-hatched 
pullets. It is true that individual flocks should do much better than this 
for a time, but if there are many flocks, some of the others will not be 
laying as well. Even with the high price to be secured for eggs during 
the late Fall and early Winter months, the net profits will be less than 
at any other season of the year, but it does not follow that we should 
only produce eggs during the regular laying season. It will most likely 
be found that the flocks that have laid the most eggs during the Winter 
will also produce best during the rest of the year. If hens do not lay 
during the Winter they are a dead loss, which must be made up out of the 
Summer profits. Unfortunately when a hen stops laying she doesn't stop 
eating. A more potent argument still is that one cannot secure a satis- 
factory market for Spring and Summer eggs only. Many customers pay 
high prices in Summer simply to hang on to their supply for the Winter. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Companions of the Hen. 

THE GUINEA FOWL. — There are two varieties of Guineas, Pearl and 
White. There is no difference in their characteristics save in their color. 
The Pearl variety should be bluish-gray in color, each feather covered with 
white spots resembling pearls, hence its name. It should be free from any 
white feathers in any part of the plumage. The neck is covered with black 
hairs near the head, and between that and the feathers is a soft down, oi 
a light brown color, that glistens in the sun. On the top of the head is 
a horny spike that turns backward. The bill and legs are brown. The 
white variety should be a pure white in plumage, with a yellow orange 
or yellowish-white bill and legs, this being the only difference between 
them and the Pearl variety. Some birds of the Pearl variety have white 
feathers in the breast and wings, but are mongrels, being a cross between 
the two varieties. They are great foragers, and will pick up enough bugs 
and injurious insects more than to pay for themselves. They do not stand 
confinement well, and will not lay more than one-half as many eggs as if 
allowed to run at large. If fed regularly morning and night they will 
always be on hand for their share. They desire to roost in trees near the 
barn at night, and are most excellent guards either night or day; anything 
out of the usual astir, they will set up a great cry. They roost so high 
tnat they are out of the way of thieves or wild animals. In their wild 
state they will fight and drive other fowls, but if used kindly as othei 
poultry, they will stay and feed with other fowls without showing much of 
this pugnacious habit. The Guinea hen is a Spring and Summer layer, and 
lays from 90 to 120 eggs yearly. They like a secluded place to lay in. 
When their nests are found, leave two or three eggs, nr they will leave 
the nest for another place. Better set their eggs under hens to hatch, as 
the Guinea does not sit until too late in this latitude to have the young get 
grown before Winter. Besides, if raised by common hens, they can be 
taken care of better, for they must be fed often, as the young eat but little 
at a time. Fifteen to 17 eggs can be set under a good-sized hen, and with 
good care all can be raised. Their eggs are small, but make up in quality 
what is lost in size. Their meat is excellent, and has a gamy flavor. The 
cocks can be distinguished by their screeching noise, also by the spike on 
their heads being larger, and by holding their heads higher. Their ear 
tubes are larger, and generally curl in a sort of semi-circle toward the 
beak. The hens make a noise that sounds like "too quick," and seldom 
screech. 



94 The Business Hen. 

PIGEONS AND SQUABS.— J. E. Stevenson says: Almost any dry 
and fairly warm room may be fixed to answer nicely for pigeons. Es- 
sentials are convenience of attendant, a good roof, no holes or cracks in 
sides, and above all strictly rat-proof, as if rats get a taste of your squabs, 
they will do more damage than any one thing I can think of. Allow about 
250 square feet of floor space for each 50 pairs of breeders. 

Nest boxes should be arranged convenient for the attendant. Suitable 
boxes may usually be obtained cheaply at your grocer's ; select boxes 
from eight to 12 inches square. Nail a board three or four inches wide 
across the front to keep eggs or small squabs from falling out. Bore a 
hole in back near top and hang on nails driven in the walls. These may 
be quickly taken down, cleaned and hung up again. There should be two 
nest boxes for each pair of breeders, as often a good pair of breeders 
will have a new nest and eggs in one box before their squabs are ready 
to leave the other. It is best to hang the boxes in pairs close together, and 
each pair of boxes far enough from the next, so that the occupants can't 
stand in their doorway, or on their house top and fight with their neighbor. 

Put in windows enough for light and ventilation in warm weather, but 
don't worry about ventilation in cold weather; the problem then is how 
to shut it out, as it is almost impossible to get a building closed too 
closely in cold weather, unless overcrowded with stock. 

The fly should contain about twice the amount of ground space as 
the building, and may be made from two-inch poultry mesh netting, but 
when sparrows are numerous it will pay to use one-inch mesh netting, so 
as to exclude them from the fly. I use netting four feet wide and wire 
together with pig rings. If the soil is not sandy or gravelly, the ground 
in fly should be covered with three or four inches of sand and this renewed 
occasionally, so that it will always be in good shape to feed the birds on. 

Homers are unquestionably the best all-round breeders, and if they have 
good food and care will produce first-class squabs, and lots of them. 
Unless you can get good mated breeders, not over three or four years old, 
I think it better to get youngsters from the nests when about four or five 
weeks old, or ready for market, and raise your own breeders. It will be 
six months before you begin to see any profit, but you have the advantage 
of knowing the age of your birds, and that they are good for eight or 10 
years' service. 

It is best to start with no more than you can familiarize yourself with 
and be able to tell which are mates, keeping the unmated birds separate 
from those that are mated. You can mate almost any cock and hen you 
wish mated together by placing them in a coop by themselves a few days, 
and when once mated they are usually there for life unless forcibly sepa- 
rated. When it is convenient to do so it is best to get the young birds 



Companions of the lien. 95 

from two different breeders, and in mating use one from each breeder for 
each pair, so as to have no possibility of inbreeding. 

For feed use coarse cracked corn three parts, whole corn two parts, 
wheat two parts, Canada peas two parts, hemp seed one part. Always 
be sure that the feed is sweet and sound, and never feed any new grain 
until it is well dried out and hard. When convenient I prefer feeding 
three times per day on the ground in the fly, giving them all they will 
clean up; if not convenient to feed at noon, cracked corn may be kept 
before them all the time in a feeder so arranged that it will be kept clean 
and dry. Always give fresh water when feeding, and have a pan of water 
large enough for them to bathe in. 

Keep good sharp grit and ground oyster shells before them all the time. 
Also keep a mixture of ground charcoal six parts, old mortar or plaster 
three parts and fine salt one part, where they may have free access to it, 
and supply them with tobacco stems for them to make their nests with. 
These may be either on the floor of the house or in the fly, and the birds 
will use them as they need them. Any coarse hay or straw will answer in 
place of the tobacco, but the tobacco is a protection against lice. The 
squabs are ready for market when four to five weeks old, and first-class 
squabs bring from $3 to $4.50 per dozen in New York markets, according 
to the season. If you get good breeding stock and give them good care 
they will repay you well. 

CARE OF TURKEYS. — We have found young turkeys as easy to 
raise as chickens when cared for in the following manner : The method 
of hatching is immaterial — a reliable incubator, hens or turkey hens, which- 
ever is most convenient. The time, however, is important. As the 
Springs here are cold and often wet we find it better to have poults hatch 
about June 1. Have sufficient turkey hens sitting to care for the poults 
when hatched. If they have been sitting but a week you may put the 
newly-hatched, but thoroughly dried, little poults under them at night 
and they will care for them. Never try to raise turkeys in a brooder or 
with common hens. Do not give more than 20 poults to each hen to 
mother, and place turkey and brood in a triangular pen made of boards 
12 inches wide and placed on edge. Place within this enclosure a house 
of some kind. If the weather.be warm an A-shaped lath coop will answer. 
Have the pen movable, and move to fresh grass frequently. Feed the 
turkey plenty of corn, but do not feed the poults until 36 hours after the 
last one is hatched. Provide fresh water in clean drinking fountains 
and grit. 

Sprinkle the hen with a good insect powder, and keep the poults at all 
times free from lice. Between the third and sixth day spread the wing of 
each little poult and pull out the six quills you will find starting to grow 
along the outer edge. When the poults can fly over this pen let them 



96 . The Business Hen. 

have free range with their mother, but see that they come home at night 
if you are obliged to bring them a few times. Feed liberally when they 
come home, and always have grit and fresh water where they may have 
free access to it. Keep their house and pen clean. A turkey will not live 
in filthy quarters, nor if lousy. If you are making a success of the dry- 
feeding system with chicks you will succeed with the turkeys by the same 
system. Pinhead or flake oatmeal, dry bread soaked with milk or water 
and squeezed dry. curds mixed with chopped onion or dandelion tops are 
all good foods. Sometimes we are able to buy through our grocer break- 
fast food or pinhead oatmeal that has become wormy (not musty) at 
greatly reduced prices, and they make excellent food for turkeys or chicks. 
Feed no sloppy foods and not too much at one time. 

BANTAM BREEDING.— Bantams need but little room, and little feed. 
They are very attractive and useful, not merely pets, as they are good 
layers of good-sized and rich eggs. I have used an incubator for hatch- 
ing, but prefer hens. If I have Bantams that 1 can spare I use them, but 
usually common hens. If large hens are used their nests should be in a 
low box six inches deep, the nest made but little dishing, as the eggs will 
move more readily as the hen steps among them. For this reason the 
fewer eggs under a hen the better. The eggs are quite as likely to be 
fertile and hatch as any larger breeds. A box should be placed over the 
hen after she has been fed and watered each day. This not only secures 
her from being disturbed, but prevents her from coming off many times 
a day, as some will, each time endangering the eggs. I do not find the 
chicks quite as hardy or as easy to raise as larger breeds until feathered. 
They feather so young and fast that they need good feed and care at this 
time. For a few days when first hatched, hard-boiled eggs and bread 
crumbs chopped fine are best for them ; later cracked wheat, millet and 
ground beef scraps, and some whole grain. For head and throat lice and 
around the little cluster of feathers in front of the vent use a little grease. 
Fresh butter is good; sweet cream is still better, and will not injure if used 
liberally on turkeys or chickens. This will do little good, however, if the 
hen has lice. This season I have taken a feather, and with a liquid lice 
killer touched the hen under and above in many places. If this is done 
in the morning when the chicks are a few days old, and the hen in an 
open coop, so the chicks can get plenty of air, it will not hurt them, but 
will rid both hen and chicks of lice for a long time, if not for the 
season. 

THE DUCK. — The principal breeds are Pekin, Rouen, Cayuga, Mus- 
covy and Aylesbury. The Pekin is most extensively raised. The follow- 
ing are the methods of a successful commercial breeder. For the first 
four days after hatching they have a mixture of two-thirds bread crumbs 
and boiled eggs, in the proportion of four parts of bread to one of egg, 



Companions of the Urn. 97 

and one-third rolled oats. At the end of four days five per cent of sand, 
not gravel, is added to the food, and each day following, until the end of 
the first week, the food is gradually changed by substituting bran and 
meal for egg and bread. After a week two parts of wheat bran, one of 
cornmeal and 10 per cent of beef scrap are given, and the five per cent 
sand is continued until the ducks are fattened. Salt is used for flavoring 
at all times. About the time sand is given green food is begun. This 
must be tender and succulent on the start, like clover, green rye or tender 
grass cut fine. In Winter cabbage, turnips, beets, potatoes or any vege- 
tables chopped into small pieces with a root cutter, or even nice clover 
hay cut and cooked will do. The green stuff is mixed with the other food 
in a large box, and moistened, but not made sloppy. At seven weeks old 
fattening commences, using two parts cornmeal to one of bran, and lb 
per cent beef scrap, fed four times a day, all they will eat up clean. At 
10 weeks they weigh not far from five pounds and are then marketed. 
At that time the temporary plumage is perfected. If allowed to go longer 
the pin feathers of the adult plumage begin to start, and it would 
be six weeks before they would again be in condition. The ducks to be 
fattened are not allowed to go into the water, as the exercise works off 
their flesh. Those kept as breeders swim all they wish. Tfiey are selected 
when five weeks old, and never fattened. Their feed is one-third each 
of bran, vegetables and corn and oats, with a little animal feed in the 
form of beef scrap, fish scrap and fresh fish. 

In marketing, the desired number are removed from the pen and 
driven to another enclosure. There they find a bath with pure running 
water. This being their first opportunity for bathing, they go at it at 
once and soon come out clean and white. Then they go to the slaughter 
house, where they are killed and picked in the usual way. 

Ducks cannot stand the sun, so their yard should be well shaded. Plum 
trees make an excellent shade, and usually thrive in a poultry yard. An- 
other essential is plenty of pure water for drinking, so arranged that they 
cannot get into it. Where one has water under pressure small streams 
may be piped into little troughs and kept running steadily. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The Health of ihe Hen. 

IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION.— Vermin, germs and impropei 
care are responsible for most poultry diseases. Yet when the conditions 
favoring sanitary care of the flock are understood probably no other animal 
can be more safely raised in large numbers. The slight value of the indi- 
vidual fowl makes the employment of a veterinarian out of the question; 
most that he can do is to advise as to stamping out disease and preventing 
future outbreaks. It is sometimes claimed that successful doctoring can be 
done at long range and at a considerable lapse of time, but the bodies of 
fowls are as delicate and complex as those of other animals, and imme- 
diate attention and nursing are needed. Ideally the poultryman should so 
care for the flock that it could not have disease. The remedies of the 
poultryman are not quinine, calomel and aconite, but the axe, the fence 
and quick lime or other disinfectants judiciously used. 

HEREDITY. — Hereditary diseases among fowls are few. Probably the 
most important is lack of vitality inherited by young chicks as a result 
of too close inbreeding of the parents, or the fact that either parent is 
too fat. Inherited weaknesses, the result of inbreeding, cannot be cured. 
The poultryman must either begin with new stock or replace some portion 
of it with new blood, and so breed out the weakness. Very close inbreeding 
may result in deformed bodies, wings or feet, in deranged nervous systems, 
or in sterility. On the other hand, advocates of line breeding have secured 
good results while trying to avoid the faults of very close inbreeding. 

CORRECT FEEDING.— Improper feeding with the usual foodstuffs 
does not cause many diseases, but it may cause loss in the productivity of 
the underfed or overfed individual. Starvation and obesity approach dis- 
eased conditions as extremes are reached. Overfeeding is attended by 
the most serious difficulties. The fat being deposited to excess in various 
organs as the liver, heart or oviduct muscles weakens them and often ends 
in the destruction of the fowl. Ruptures of the liver and various veins 
of the body seem to be brought about by fatty degeneration ; also a failure 
of muscular power to extrude the egg. Clean, uncontaminated water aids 
in dissolving the food, and grit, to assist in grinding it, should always be at 
hand. While it is possible that chickens may survive some time without 
grit it is certain that they grow much better and keep healthier when it is 
at hand. The diagnosis of disorders from incorrect feeding is difficult. 
The scales should soon tell whether the fowls are too heavy, even if the 
caretaker has not discovered when handling them on the roost that their 



The Health of the Hen. 99 

flesh is too fat or flabby, or possibly too bony. The condition of the 
fowl must be noted by the sense of feeling as well as by the eye. The 
only means of restoring too fat fowls to a normal condition is to deprive 
them of a portion of the food they would otherwise need and make them 
hunt and pick for what they get. Starve them into health. 

"COLDS" OR INFLUENZA are caused by abrupt changes of tem- 
perature. They may occur in Winter or Summer, but are always the 
result of a draft. In an endeavor to secure more air to carry off odors 
houses have been arranged so that drafts blew directly upon the fowls. 
A cold is indicated by sneezing and a slight discharge at the nostrils 
which collect dirt and straws. If severe cases the affected fowls droop. In 
an outbreak of this character there may be inflammation of the lungs. 
The only remedy for colds is to arrange the house so that there can be 
no cross drafts from doors, windows or cracks. The use of muslin cur- 
tains instead of some of the glass windows is a preventive. These act 
by permitting the moisture transpired by the hens to pass though, by retain- 
ing heat, stopping direct drafts and allowing slow diffusion of the inside 
and outside air. Frozen combs, wattles and feet are prevented by keeping 
the sleeping chamber as dry as possible and comfortably warm. This is 
effected by muslin curtains which divide the roosting" place from the rest 
of the room, and limit the space to be heated by the fowls. 

SANITARY HOUSES.— Moisture in the henhouse should be avoided, 
as it is most destructive to the comfort and health of the fowl. The only 
economical method of doing this is by permitting the inside air to exchange 
its moisture contents freely with the outside. The muslin screen seems at 
present to be the cheapest and best. Many poultrymen make use of the 
loft of the larger houses for ventilation by covering a loose flooring with 
a foot of hay and opening doors in the gables. All inside structures should 
be made so that fowls cannot injure themselves. The lighter breeds 
usually suffer little harm from bruises, but the heavier may receive them 
on their feet or their wings on account of the construction of the house. 
As a rule the dropping board and perch should be well upon the side of 
the house, so that the hens will have all the floor space and the roosts 
will be in the warmer part of the building. For the heavier breeds run- 
ways should be made leading up to the roosts and the roost wired in with 
removable netting, so that the birds cannot fly down. Their wings are 
as compared to their body weight so weak that in the short distance from 
roost to floor they receive little help from them and fall instead of fly. 
This applies to the heavier American breeds as well as the Asiatic. The 
wings often get bruised by trying to fly through too small openings when 
scared or by careless handling. Fowls contract but few diseases from the 
yards aside from the parasitic. They are more liable to the effects of 
improper feeding and the lack of exercise when confined, but when once 

!>f C 



100 The Business Hen. 

they are yarded the poultryman is compelled to supply the feed, water 
and means of exercise in order to realize his profit. As compared to free 
range the discomforts of the ordinary henyard are many. Too frequently 
no provision is made for protection of the fowls from the cold Winter 
blasts or fiercely hot Summer sun, against which the fowl when allowed 
free range always chooses sheltered thickets or the lee of some fence, wall 
or building. The chief protection against vermin, parasites and communi- 
cable diseases is the wire fence. 

WIRE FENCE. — The height chosen should be according to the fowla 
kept and the size of the yards. For small yards those 40 or 50 feet wide 
by 80 or 100 long, a height of seven feet for Leghorns, is ample; three 
feet of woven wire, one inch mesh, is used at the bottom and buried at 
least six inches in the soil. Four feet of two-inch mesh fills the top. The 
corner posts are set like the others, whether in dug holes or driven. A stiff 
pole for a brace is placed horizontally between the corner and next post, 
provided the latter is not more than eight or 10 feet away, and at a height 
of four feet from the ground. Notches may be made to hold the brace in 
position or it may be nailed. A No. 9 wire is then passed around the 
bottom of the corner post and top of the second post and back to the 
corner post, where after pulling as tight as possible the ends are fastened. 
Nails may be used to keep the wire in place while fastening. A short iron 
rod should then be used to twist the wire by placing it between the two 
strands near the middle and turning it over and over until the twisted wire 
is taut. This completes a corner that will not give and will be heaved by 
freezing very little. If displaced it may be easily driven back. The gates 
are made four feet wide with a removable foot-wide board across the 
bottom. These can be cheaply made of furring two inches wide, a few 
nails and woven wire. Cut four pieces the width of the gate. Cut two the 
length of the gate. Cut one to reach from the bottom next the hinge to 
the top on the swinging side and miter its corners so that they fit against 
the side sticks, especially at the bottom. When fastened together a space 
is left between the top and bottom cross-pieces. The nails driven through 
the three pieces and the cross brace together with the separated double 
pieces make a very strong light gate. The advantage of this fence is that 
fowls do not try to dig under. They rarely try to fly over. Only cats 
and hawks can enter. The fence seems to be practically rat proof. The 
tendency of animals to tunnel under seems to be avoided by the clear view 
through the wire. Dogs, skunks and minks are surely kept out. No com- 
municable disease can enter excepting when carried by some hen or by 
the attendant. The disease that is carried through the air is very rare. 
Even mites and hen lice are little likely to leave their haunts to invade 
other pens. 



The Health of the Hen. 101 

TREATMENT OF YARDS.— Manure from healthy fowls will so 
pollute small yards as to make them unhealthy and render cultivation of, 
the soil necessary. It is not likely that even disease germs would outlast 
the attacks of the soil hacteria throughout a season when the ground is 
properly spaded or plowed and cultivated. The uncleaned hen roost has 
been called the greatest meance to the hens, but probably the yards and the 
water furnish the larger part of the infection. Yards which are virtually 
fields and can be cultivated for various crops in succession furnish the 
best facilities for the hen and are the healthiest. By locating the houses 
at the touching corners of four fields the fences can easily be arranged 
so as to use either at will. The portable house has its sanitary value in 
the warm months. The turning under of polluted soil and removal of the 
fowls during the cultivation of a crop renew the fields so that they can be 
used alternately year after year to the advantage of both crop and fowls. 
Newly hatched and small chicks must be yarded somewhat diffierently from 
old fowls. For these in Spring and Summer there is no better place than 
some spot within the orchard which has been enclosed by a three-foot inch 
mesh net wire fence, with lower edge buried in the ground. This will 
keep them from being lost in the wet grass. 

BROODING TROUBLES.— The diseases of brooding are mainly those 
which arise from the lack of heat and food, the former by far the more 
important. The result of brooding by the hens is the application of heat 
to the chick, and when food is plenty the hen that is most successful is the 
one that has paid the strictest attention to business. So in artificial brood- 
ing success depends upon the application of heat. When disease occurs 
in hatching and brooding artificially it is in most cases directly due to 
the lack of heat or its improper application and not to the stock from 
which the eggs came. The success of artificial brooding will depend upon 
the brooder and its treatment. Artificially raised chicks being deprived 
of the hen's care learn but slowly and must be housed and yarded for some 
time. There need be no worry about chicks contracting such diseases as 
gapes if they are kept from other fowls and on uninfected runs. It is 
safer and more economical of labor to brood the chicks until they are 
four or five weeks old even in Summer. 

ROUP. — Bacterial diseases which show their main symptoms in the 
head are known as roup, the nostrils become stopped by inflammation and 
inflammatory products, the mucous sacs of the eye socket become filled 
and often cause the head to swell and the eye to project. An examination 
of the nasal opening in the roof of the mouth often shows a yellow cheesy 
deposit. These discharges have a characteristic odor of dead tissue. The 
cheesy deposits also extend to the opening of the windpipe. When the 
breathing becomes obstructed the fowl emits a gasping noise which gives 
rise to the name roup. It is probable that there are no less than three, 



102 The Business Hen. 

perhaps four, distinct diseases which are all called roup. To the poultry- 
man this fact has at present but little importance, as the same means are 
taken in combating each. Wihile the main symptom exists in the head the 
more severe forms involve the whole body. These diseases are readily 
diagnosed by general droopiness, by visible inflammation of the head, by 
roupy sounds and the odor. They are all caused by organisms which pass 
from bird to bird. They begin by the introduction of a fowl carrying the 
disease into the flock and their spread is greatly favored by conditions 
which cause the fowls to catch cold. To avoid the disease one should 
thoroughly examine the heads of each new purchase and keep all the fowls 
separate from other flocks. The houses should be so constructed as to 
avoid direct drafts on the hens, and neither be too moist nor too hot. 
Fowls kept in cold sheds rarely take cold. When the fowls have once 
contracted either of the roup diseases there is no medicinal remedy that 
will be satisfactory or that it will pay to give. An affected flock should 
be at once quarantined in a light, dry room with floor and without direct 
drafts. The room should be whitewashed thoroughly in all parts, including 
floor. The floor should be sanded, but during the virulence of the out- 
break straw should be omitted. The hens should be fed sparingly so as 
not to fatten too greatly during their quarantine. While medicine as iron 
sulphate, carbonate or disinfectants, as often recommended, may be put 
into the drinking water, the quantity advised is hardly ever sufficient to 
make the water antiseptic. It is better to scald out the dishes regularly and 
give pure drinking water. By remodelling or changing the quarantine 
quarters and confinement on the board floor most of the fowls will get 
better. Some may get worse and these it will be necessary to kill. There 
is little use for disinfectants beyond the whitewash, which should be used 
quite liberally each time the house is cleaned. If made thin a liberal 
amount spread on the floor after sweeping up the sand will quite thor- 
oughly disinfect. The whitewash should for this purpose be freshly made 
from unslaked lime. If one preferred, any of the coal tar disinfectants 
could be used. Whitewash is cheap and efficient for all purposes when 
thoroughly applied. It would not be wise to allow a flock that had once 
been affected with roup ever to have complete liberty again for fear of 
a future outbreak from some undiscovered patient. They should be kept 
securely yarded and housed. After they have become sufficiently aged 
and all the eggs for hatching be obtained from them that are needed, they 
should be killed, quarters thoroughly disinfected and their yards abandoned 
for a time to allow disinfection through changes of the weather. This 
may be aided by liming and cultivation. 

DIPHTHERETIC ROUP.— Fowls with diphtheretic roup have been 
treated by swabbing out the membranes and touching them with peroxide 
of hydrogen, two per cent carbolic acid solution, borax and other more or 



The Health of the Hen. 103 

less imperfect disinfecting preparations. These often succeed. While 
diphtheretic roup in fowls seems from recent investigation to be an entirely 
different disease from diphtheria in man, the operator should take no 
chances and disinfect his hands and operating tools in two per cent carbolic 
acid solution after a thorough scrubbing in soap and water. Above all, 
should there be no carrying of buckets, brooms or hoes from the quaran- 
tine hospital to other houses. It is better to provide a pair of rubbers 
for use in the quarantine house and yard so as to prevent tracking infec- 
tion from house to house. 

CHOLERA. — The cholera type of diseases, or those in which the germs 
enter the system through the intestinal tract and are disseminated through 
the droppings, comprise three diseases perhaps more, all due to different 
germs. They should be handled when an outbreak occurs much the same 
as the roup diseases. However, in these diseases, especially the typhoidal 
forms, there is more danger from infection contaminating the ground, and 
great care should be taken with infected ground either by abandonment or 
by intensive cultivation. Liming when necessary to correct acidity, spading 
and cultivation will enable the nitrifying bacteria to grow which in warm 
seasons will destroy the disease making germs. The author has frequently 
collected infected fowls carried them for some miles placed them in a coop 
with board floor, believing that they would die only to have them improve 
under the changed surroundings. Little is known about the length of time 
either of this class of diseases may live in the ground or in the animal. If 
remedies are given it should be remembered that any alkalies as carbonate 
of soda, Epson or Glauber salts create inflammation of the intestine and 
permit germs to enter the system more readily. The acid stops diarrhoeas 
when present and may possibly be helpful. The presence of the virulent 
communicable disease of the cholera type is ascertained by droopiness of 
the fowls and subsequent death. Oftentimes the droopiness passes unob- 
served. Diseases produced by errors of feeding generally take some timt 
to develop unless something acting like a poison is taken, and then a large 
number are suddenly taken ; some die and the others recover. The various 
forms of this class of disease cannot easily be told apart in the hen yard. 
One of them, infectious leukaemia, causes death within three or four days, 
with scarcely 12 hours droopiness and without any easily ascertainable 
symptoms. Fowl cholera lasts from two to three weeks, is accompanied by 
droopiness and may or may not be accompanied by diarrhoea. Diarrhoea 
in fowls is indicated by frequent evacautations of soft greenish, brownish 
or yellowish stools. The white watery stool sometimes seen is not indica- 
tive of diarrhoea, but of lack of intestinal evacuations. It consists of the 
lime products secreted by the kidneys and is usually in excess in fevers. 
The disease called "going light" in fowls may arise from chronic forms 
of cholera, from starvation produced by mechanical derangements of the 



104 The Business Hen. 

system or possibly from bacteria] and parasitic forms. As the name indi- 
cates the fowls become thin and light in weight. When communicable 
disease is concerned there will be no attempt at diagnosis until the fowls 
are visibly affected and begin to die. Should they die suddenly without 
previous illness one may suspect infectious leukaemia. Should there be 
some droopiness noted and the fowls stop feeding cholera may be the cause. 
In both these diseases many fowls of the flock will be affected, while in 
chronic forms of these and other diseases there will be but few at a time. 
Since medicinal treatment will always prove unsatisfactory the exact 
diagnosis of a disease will not matter, for the same thorough steps must 
be taken to limit the spread of the disease whether it be one thing or 
another. There is no help for the poultryman except in that perpetual 
vigilance which wards off all diseases. ' 

GAPJIS. — This is caused by worms one-half to three-fourths inch long, 
which attach themselves inside the windpipe. They are always red from 
the blood taken from the fowls. Here they breed and when adult are 
coughed out upon the ground, when their eggs are sown broadcast. 
Artificially raised chicks will not contract gape worms unless placed on 
the ground where chickens have contracted or scattered the disease. Earth 
worms may carry the trouble. Gape worms are indicated by the frequent 
gaping or gasping of the chicks for air. The old familiar horse hair loop 
or the feather end dipped in turpentine will remove them. However, time 
and chicks may be saved during the succeeding year by removing the 
coops to a new lot, cultivating the old place and keeping the chicks from it. 
The time required for land to disinfect itself of gape worms is not known. 
Since robins and other birds may perpetuate them it is possible that a given 
space may never be exactly safe. Some poultrymen by keeping the chicks 
on a board floor for some time have avoided this trouble. 

SCALY-LEG. — Another parasitic disease caused by minute mites which 
insert themselves under the scales covering the feet is called "scaly-leg." 
While not particularly noticeable in early stages it is readily diagnosed by 
the comparatively enormous roughening of the scales caused in the later 
stages. Since it does not spread from fowl to fowl it should be treated 
regularly until cured. The legs should be dipped in carbolized vaseline, 
sweet oil, kerosene or washed with creoline dips. The oils act better than 
water dips because they last on the legs longer, and thus draw out the 
mites. If the dips are repeated the scales soften and the inflammation dis- 
appears until feet that will seem beyond cure will again appear healthy 
and comparatively smooth. 

SURGICAL TREATMENT.— Crop-bound is a condition in which the 
crop becomes packed with food because of stoppage of its outlet by coarse 
material. It it easily remedied by cutting into the crop at that part which 
is on top when the fowl stands. After emptying all its contents the raw 



The Health of the Hen. 105 

edges should be treated with two per cent carbolic acid or creoline mixture 
Then sew the crop by placing the raw edges together and tying each time 
the needle is passed through. Coarse linen or silk thread is equally good. 
Do not put the inside lining edges of the crop together, but the raw edges. 
Then disinfect again and sew the raw edges of the skin together. Give 
the hen water and feed a little soft feed for three days. Incisions into 
swellings and abscesses do little permanent good, for there is usually no 
cure effected. Blunting or removing the spurs of the cocks often saves 
the lives of others and keeps them from gashing the sides of the hens. 



DOCTORING POULTRY.— The general rules for guarding the health 
of poultry, given above by Dr. Curtice., would, if followed out carefully, 
prevent any serious outbreak of disease. There would be few deaths in 
the flock except those from accident or old age. He does not advocate 
dosing or fussing with sick hens, and he is largely right, because when 
a hen becomes sick enough to make her condition evident she is often too 
far gone for medicine. For those who wish to doctor their hens we add 
a few simple rules of advice. Read the notes on Tonics for Poultry with 
care, and do not be too anxious to stuff the fowls with medicine. Good 
food and clean and comfortable quarters give a condition which no drugs 
can possibly supply. 

Lice are responsible for many of the so-called poultry diseases. They 
weaken the hen's vitality and put her into a condition which makes it 
impossible for her to do well. A lousy hen may have ruffled feathers, a 
dark comb, looseness of the bowels and other symptoms which indicate 
some form of chicken cholera. What folly it would be to dose such a hen 
with medicines or "tonics" and leave the lice on her body or leave 
vermin in the henhouse which she occupies. Would it not be just as 
great folly to doctor a hen for roup, and spray her throat and then put 
her back into some damp and breezy house where other roupy hens stay? 
This will show the wisdom of what Dr. Curtice says and the need of 
proper care. If one wishes to try a "roup cure" on the nostrils or throat 
the following will be found as good as any : Equal parts ammonia, tur- 
pentine and glycerine. We have seen cases of roup that seemed to be 
relieved by dipping the entire head into kerosene. One ounce of chlorate 
of potash in a pint of water makes a good wash for cases of sore throat, 
but of course hens needing any such treatment should be put by them- 
selves. Reports are made of successful treatment of cholera by giving 
in the early stages one teaspoonful of a solution of one ounce of hypo- 
sulphite of soda in a pint of water. Dry, unslaked lime is sometimes used 
to help chicks dispose of gape worms. The chicks are put into a covered 
box with a layer of lime at the bottom. The whole thing is shaken to stir 
up the lime into a dust. Do not leave the chicks inside over two minutes. 



106 The Business Hen. 

If combs are smeared with glycerine or vaseline they will not be so liable 
to frost bite. A good dressing for all wounds on animals is one part' 
carbolic acid in three parts of sweet oil. Feather pulling is usually caused 
by idleness or a lack of meat in the diet. Generally there are a few birds 
in the flock who do most of the mischief. If they can be caught at it 
they would better be killed. Make the hens work or scratch for their 
food and provide meat in some form. Little chicks sometimes kill and 
eat each other. Members of a flock have been known to attack some 
wounded bird and pick it to pieces. The victim usually has some wound 
or sore that shows blood, and the others attack this spot. It usually indi- 
cates a lack of meat in the ration. This should be supplied, and if the 
trouble is bad the chicks should be separated, taken to fresh ground and 
sorted so that the smaller ones are kept separate. 

THE CHICKEN MITE.— This little insect is probably the worst 
single enemy of the average farm hen. It does more damage than the 
large body lice, and is harder to destroy. No hen can be profitable 
when infested with these mites. The hen stops laying, the feathers are 
roughened, the head becomes pale, the bird is a picture of unthrift. It 
is not uncommon for hatching hens to die on the nest, or to be driven 
away from their eggs by these horrible creatures. The mites also attack 
the little chicks and kill great numbers of them. The insects work mostly 
at night, and not only suck the hen's blood but destroy her rest. The 
insect is very small and very active. Fig. 46 shows one greatly en- 
larged. In life they are one-twenty- 
fifth of an inch long, gray in color 
except when filled with blood, when 
they are red. They usually only re- 
main upon the hen long enough to 
secure a meal. They hide in cracks 
or in filth and litter during the day, 
and at night when the hens return 
to the roosts crawl out and begin 

their blood-sucking. The eggs are 
Fig. 4G. CHICKEN MITE. , ., , , , , . ,, , • >• 

laid and hatched in these hiding 

places. The under sides of the roosts, the litter and straw in the nests 

are favorite places. They breed rapidly, and unless destroyed will swarm 

all over the house. There is no doubt that these mites can be carried 

from one farm to another on poultry, coops, clothing or eggs bought for 

hatching. That is one reason why no strange fowl should be put in the 

house without a thorough dusting with insect powder. A good way to 

use the powder is to put it in a large pepper box and shake it out among 

the hen's feathers. In some cases hens are dipped in a warm tea, made 

by steeping tobacco stems, or a preparation like Zenoleum. The "dipped" 




The Health of the Hen. 107 

hen should be kept out of all draughts and kept in a warm, sunny place. 
In clearing a house of mites, the litter and straw should be taken from 
the floor and nests and burned. The manure must be taken out. As the 
mites spend the day on the under side of the roosts they must be taken 
out and painted with kerosene and smeared with grease. There will still 
be millions of the insects left in cracks and holes. They can only be 
killed by thorough scrubbing and spraying with some biting liquid again 
and again until both insects and their eggs are destroyed. The two best 
sprays are named below. In houses where 
these mites are found all the fixtures should be 



these mites are found all the fixtures should be S \ s \ f\ £\ { 
loose so they can be taken out for cleaning. \ \ \ \ I 



n 



A form of nest used in Mississippi is shown in 

Fig. 47. This is well suited to a hot country. / 2 / 

In this the pieces C. C. are the only ones ' 
fastened to the building. The whole thing can 
be easily removed for cleaning. The Mississ- 
ippi Station recommends cleaning the house 

. , Al . , , Pig. 47. SANITARY NEST 

every two weeks, and then using a dust of 

three parts slacked lime and one part sulphur. This is thrown in the air 
up to the roof of the house until the whole place is filled with the dust. 

KEROSENE EMULSION.— This emulsion is better than pure kero- 
sene, because it will dissolve in water and may be sprayed of washed over 
the walls. Take one-half pound of hard soap and shave it into a gallon 
of soft water; put it on the fire and bring it to a boil. By this time the 
soap will be dissolved. Then remove the soap solution from the fire and 
stir into it at once, while hot, two gallons of kerosene. This makes a 
thick, creamy emulsion, which is made ready for use by diluting with 
10 volumes of soft water, and stirring well. Make up as much of the 
stock emulsion as it is thought will be needed. This can be kept in a 
suitable vessel and a portion taken out and diluted as needed. If the 
bucket or holder attached to the spray pump holds five gallons, one-half 
gallon of the stock emulsion should be taken and put into the bucket or 
holder and four and one-half gallons of soft water added, and the whole 
well stirred. It is then ready to be sprayed on the places occupied by 
the mites. 

LIME AND SULPHUR WASH.— This is the wash recommended to 
fruit growers for spraying to kill the San Jose scale. Some fruit growers 
drive the spray pump right up to the henhouse door and thoroughly spray 
the inside. The wash is made in the proportion of 40 pounds of lime, 
20 pounds of sulphur and five pounds of caustic soda in 60 gallons of 
water. Smaller amounts can be used in the same proportions. Slake the 
lime by pouring water over it. Mix the sulphur into a thin paste and, 
while the lime is slaking, pour it in, stir rapidly, add water and keep 



108 The Business Hen. 

stirring. Have the caustic soda dissolved in water and stir it in with 
the lime and sulphur. This makes a reddish brown mixture, and when 
the proper amount of water is added it may be sprayed in the house or 
scrubbed on with a brush or broom. It is a biting wash, and will burn 
the skin where it touches, but it is sure death to lice, and will hold its 
killing power for weeks. It is far better than common whitewash, either 
lime alone or with carbolic acid. A few sprayings with this wash will 
kill out the mites and give the hens comfort. 

BODY LICE. — These are larger insects that remain upon the hen, 
the eggs being laid on the feathers. They are not so dangerous as the 
mites, for a healthy hen provided with a good "dust bath" will get rid of 
most of them. When hens become feeble or unable to dust, the body lice 
do great damage. Some of the larger breeds do not use the dust bath 
regularly, and their feathers are thick and heavy. In Winter some poultry- 
men go so far as to warm the dusting box by using an iron bottom with 
a lamp under it. Lime mixed with the dust helps destroy the lice, but 
takes the gloss from the plumage. "Insect powder," tobacco dust or 
sulphur dusted through the feathers destroy the lice. There are sev- 
eral devices for dusting hens rapidly. One of them works like a barrel 
churn. The hen is put inside with a quantity of powder and turned over 
and over several times so that the powder works all through her feathers. 
Grease or fat will destroy the lice. A mixture of lard and sulphur, or 
equal parts of lard and kerosene smeared under the wings, around the 
vent and on the head and neck will protect the hen. The head lice which 
attack little chicks are overcome by smearing with lard and sulphur, butter 
or even cream, but as is stated elsewhere, the chick may be killed if too 
much grease is used. We give some space to the question of vermin, but 
it is an important one. Lice are probably responsible for more poultry 
failures than any other single trouble. With a fair use of insect powder 
and the lime and sulphur wash this fearful loss may be prevented. 
TONICS FOR POULTRY. 

When fowls are doing well it is not usually good policy to stimulate 
them with drugs of any kind. A legion of nostrums in the way of "egg 
foods" and "condition powders" has been offered poultry keepers from 
time to time. While there may be a small measure of merit in some oi 
them all probably do more harm than good in the long run. Good general 
care, intelligent feeding and keen observation of the immediate needs of 
each fowl are the keynotes of success in poultry culture. There are times, 
however, when fowls, young and old, languish or lose the keen edge ot 
their appetites and others when it seems advisable to force egg production 
to the utmost that simple remedies, between food and medicine, in their 
effects may be really useful. A few notes on the best of these tonics are 
appended. 



The Health of the Hen. 109 

RED PEPPER. — The red or cayenne pepper of commerce is made ot 
the pungent fruit of Capsicum, or the common garden pepper ground to 
powder. It is an excellent appetizer, and probably the safest of all stim- 
ulants. It may be given in mashes or moist food at the rate of one tea- 
spoonful to each two or more quarts. The fruits of any of the hot- 
flavored chilies or garden peppers answer equally well if broken up and 
added to the mash. 

TINCTURE OF IRON. — In some forms of weakness associated with 
loss of appetite tincture of chloride of iron does good service. It should 
be given in the drinking water, 10 to 20 drops to the quart of water, given 
fresh for several successive days. It is rather' caustic, but not poisonous 
in small quantities. 

STRYCHNINE is a dangerous poison, but in minute doses has pow- 
erful tonic properties. It is especially useful in leg weakness and all forms 
of paralysis, and in the general depression following illness. It is best 
given fowls in the form of tincture of nux vomica, of which it is the active 
principle. Ten to 15 drops in a quart of drinking water may be safely 
given on alternate days. Nux vomica tincture is intensely bitter, and the 
water thus prepared is not relished. 

ARSENIC is a powerful tonic and probably stimulates egg production. 
It may be given in the form of Fowler's solution, 10 to 12 drops in a quart 
of water once in three days. Nux vomica tincture and Fowler's solution art 
dangerous poisons and should be kept where children and animals cannot 
get at them. 

GOLDEN SEAL. — An excellent appetizer very little used is golden 
seal or Hydrastis canadensis. It is harmless, and may be given at the 
rate of half an ounce of the powdered root to each quart of mash. Pow- 
dered ginger is also used in the same manner. 



THE MOULTING HEN.— As all know poultry shed or cast off theii 
feathers, after which a new growth appears. This moulting is an exhaust- 
ing process, and the hen will not, under ordinary circumstances, lay 
during her moult or for some time after. Old hens drop their feathers 
during late Summer and Fall, and it is an advantage to force the moult 
early, so as to have them laying or at least in good condition before Winter 
sets in. Various plans have been tried for hurrying the moult. In some 
cases the feathers are plucked from the live hens so that a new growth will 
start early. Another plan often mentioned is described as follows by 
Mr. G. H. Belding: 

''I took 10 White Wyandotte yearlings about the last of August and 
shut them up in a pen, and did not feed them for twelve days, with the 
exception of about a handful of grain every other day. I gave them all 
the water they wanted during these twelve days. At the expiration of 12 



110 The Business Hen. 

days I let them out, and commenced feeding a heavy ration, all they would 
eat, in fact giving them a variety, and once a day a mash and also beef scrap 
or animal meal. They had grass in the runs. Eight of them commenced 
to moult in a very short time. They laid on their new coat very fast, and 
were laying again in about six or seven weeks from the time I began. 
These hens were laying at the time the experiment began. They laid 
through the Winter and are still laying. One of the 10 it did not seem 
to affect ; she moulted at the usual time, and did not begin laying until 
towards Spring. The other did not moult at all ; she carried her old coat 
through the Winter and moulted this Spring. I did not give them anj 
medicine or tonic." 



Dark spots are often noticed in eggs. They are probably caused by 
the rupture of small blood vessels in the hen before the egg is shelled. 

Bare backs on hens are caused by feather picking or by the male. 
When hens eat each other's feathers they usually pull out the soft down at 
the base of the tail. It is better to kill a confirmed feather puller. This 
bad habit is usually caused by idleness or lack of meat in the ration. 

The egg shells may be crushed fine and fed to the hens. When crushed 
in this way they are not likely to cause egg eating. 

The best cure for egg eating is to kill the hen that is guilty of it. We 
would do this except in the case of a valuable bird. By filing off the end 
of the beak we can prevent most of the trouble. 

Leg weakness may be caused by rheumatism, a heavy male or roosts 
that are too high. Rheumatism is often caused by low damp quarters or 
by keeping the bird in a low coop on the ground. 

A good hospital for a sick hen is at the bottom of a flour barrel in 
a nest of straw. 

Soft-shelled eggs are mostly caused by a lack of lime. Crushed oyster 
shells or bone should be kept before the hens. Soft shells are also due to 
troubles in the reproductive organs, fright or shock or to the presence of 
too many males. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Purebred Business Hen. 

F. Q. White, who lias met with much success as a breeder, gives the 
following good advice : 

One of the questions continually asked by those thinking about trying 
to make poultry profitable is: "Would I not be just as successful with 
common fowls as with purebred or fancy stock? If not, why?" There are 
several reasons why it pays to keep purebred hens. First, your flock is 
uniform, and you can give the feed and care that your variety needs. 
With common mixed flocks you are feeding some hens fat ; while others 
may not get what they need. Your chickens are much evener if all 
one kind, and if you are selling for broilers to a fancy trade, you would 
see a difference between a crate of nice purebred Wyandottes or Plymouth 
Rocks and a crate of red, white, blue and speckled scrubs. It might easily 
make a difference of two or three cents a pound. Now pick up the market 
quotations and note the prices on "fancy selected white" and the next 
grade, which means plain "fresh eggs." There you find a difference again 
of two or three cents a dozen. Does it cost any more to raise these fancy 
broilers or fancy eggs? Not a cent more after you get started. Of course 
it costs more to get a start in any purebred stock than in mongrels. Care- 
ful breeders have been at work for years developing these different 
breeds, each for a specific purpose, and it stands to reason that they will 
fulfill that purpose better than those with only hit or miss or no breeding. 

We sometimes hear of some woman who is making money from com- 
mon hens, but this only proves she understands her business and would 
make more if she had a good strain of purebred. It is a well-known fact 
that eggs of different breeds do not hatch alike, and some are much more 
difficult to hatch than others. One should take all these things into con- 
sideration and study the markets and their own likings, for anyone will 
make a much greater success with a breed he likes. After you have made 
your selection do not buy a male and try to grade up scrubs, and do not 
pay $25 for a show trio of fancy birds. First, get either a few settings 
or a hundred or more eggs of the breed you want from some breeder 
you can rely on tn treat you fairly; then study your strain; find out its 
weak points, and buy males to correct those faults. This is when you want 
to buy a Standard and find what that breed should look like to win prizes. 
You will soon be proud of your flock and you will want to show all 
your friends your birds. If your hens are inclined t- be too -hort-backed 
you should buy a male with the opposite tendency. If they are weak in 



112 The Business Hen. 

any point get a male strong in that point to breed them to. But do not 
sacrifice vigor and health to fancy or fads ; leave that to the showman. 
Don't try to keep more than one breed ; you won't know all there is to know 
about that in 20 years. It is more profitable to be known as a good breeder 
of White Leghorns, Wyandottes or Plymouth Rocks than it is to be able 
to advertise one hundred different varieties of poultry for sale. 

There is plenty of money in poultry if managed in a business-like 
manner. A dairyman would not keep Holstein cows for a fancy butter 
trade, nor would he expect to get rich from selling Jersey milk, although 
there are good butter cows and good milkers in both breeds. So a 
poultryman should keep the breed that is adapted to his business ; the 
heavy breeds for market poultry and the lighter more active breeds 
for eggs. You will have hens in any breed that do not pay their board, 
and these must be weeded out and got rid of by the "ax process." It is a 
nice business to pick them out, and many a fine hen has been sacrificed 
because she was in such a ragged and generally dilapidated condition, 
due to her persistent laying. One trouble with scrubs is the lack of type 
and the extreme difficulty of culling out the unprofitable birds. We 
have all seen where good breeds that have been bred for years true to 
type were crossed. The result was a reversion and any old thing. Get 
purebred stock; keep it pure; strive to improve your strain constantly, 
and you will have a greater pride in your flock and give them better 
care, which after all is the secret of success in the poultry business. 
Who ever heard of a poultry man with some tine purebred hens allowing 
them to roost on the rail fence or over the pigpen? Take care of the 
hens and they will take care of you. 



"PEDIGREE" HENS. — The "trap nests" mentioned on page 14 are 
not popular with most poultrymen, as they require much time and close 
attention. There is no doubt, however, that they can pick out the drones 
if they are operated carefully. At the Maine Experiment Station over 
1,000 hens were tested. Out of this large number 35 hens were found that 
gave from 200 to 251 eggs in a year. There were several that laid only 
36 to 60 eggs and three never laid at all. These hens were all selected 
because they looked like layers in shape and size, but the trap nests showed 
that the eye cannot be relied upon entirely. It has also been found that 
hens vary in their laying habits, some laying regularly month after month, 
while others lay well for a time and then take a vacation. These variations 
will be shown even when all are selected close to a "type." 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Who Should Keep Hens ? 

We have seen how the egg is formed, how it is hatched, how the little 
chick is cared for and how the hen is handled so as to make her a busi- 
ness proposition in feathers. Now, who should keep the Business Hen? 
Evidently a man should have "hen in the heart" if he expects Biddy to 
fill his pocket. From what we have studied we can readily see how much 
of the business side of the hen's work depends upon her partner man. 
Take a horse that will trot a mile in 2:10. Probably 30 seconds of that 
record is due to the man who trained and cared for the horse. Left to 
himself, with his natural gait, the horse could not trot under 2:40. The 
cow that produces an enormous weight of milk or butter is developed 
far beyond her natural flow by man's skill in handling and feeding. Just 
the same with the hen. There are records of flocks that average 160 
eggs per year. Handled without skill or comfort such flocks would not 
average 60 eggs. That is why we said at the beginning that a man to suc- 
ceed with the Business Hen must be "half hen' himself. While some will 
succeed better than others no one should think of investing money in the 
poultry business unless he is willing to put his heart into it and study the 
habits of the hens. There is money in the poultry business for those who 
do this. 

HENS VS. COWS. — To show how the hen ranks as a financier, Geo. 
A. Cosgrove makes the following estimate. We do not disparage the 
value of good cows, but we cannot all be dairymen, and there is a larger 
surplus of milk than of fresh eggs : 

"A neighbor (as we call them in the country, though he lives four 
miles away) keeps cows, I do not know how many, but he told me boast- 
ingly that his creamery check last month was $86 and his bill for grain $60. 
That leaves $26 — a dollar a day — for profit, if he didn't have to feed any 
hay. Taking out the cost of hay for his 12 or 15 cows it would not leave 
a great deal for his month's work. Another farmer who keeps 30 cows, 
has a splendid farm, is a powerful man in the prime of life, and a worker, 
says that with the grain bill and hired help there is not a dollar in the 
cow business. He makes his own butter and sells it to private customers in 
a village six miles away. Hoard's Dairyman tells of two men who took 
a 'cow census.' In Pennsylvania 25 farmers who were patrons of a cream- 
ery averaged a net profit of $15.06 per year for each cow, while 25 more 
made a profit of 66 cents per cow. In Indiana the best six out of fifty 
averaged $21 per cow per year. It is fair to assume that these best cows 



114 The Business Hen. 

were worth $45 to $(50 each. Consequently it appears that it takes a good 
cow to pay an annual profit equal to one-third her market value. 

"Now I rise to say that if there is anywhere in these United States 
any old dunghill, scaly-legged, blear-eyed, frosted-combed, roach-backed, 
crooked-breasted, twisted-toed apology for a hen, that with relative good 
care won't pay an annual profit on her market value of more than 33 per 
cent then she ought to be exhibited at the St. Louis Exhibition as the 
biggest curiosity in the show. I have kept fowls off and on for 40 years, 
in city and village back yards, and for the last 10 years on a farm, and I 
know there has never been a year when they did not pay me from 200 to 
300 per cent on their market value." 

PAID FOR A FARM. — Mr. Cosgrove knows what he is talking about, 
for the Wyandotte hen has paid for his home. He left the city at 57 
years of age and invested all his savings in a run-down farm in a Con- 
necticut hill town. There were 80 acres in the farm, with only 17 cleared, 
and barely two acres plowed. So poor was its reputation as a money 
earner that the farm sold for less than the cost of the buildings. It 
should be added that Mr. Cosgrove is in poor health, and has been un- 
able to do a hard day's work in 10 years. He has been obliged to buy all 
his grain and figure close in every Way. Yet, in spite of all these serious 
drawbacks the Wyandotte hens have paid for the farm twice over, and 
provided a good living. Mr. Cosgrove represents one class of men who 
should keep hens. No other stock could have come within the range of his 
powers and paid for his farm. He loved a hen, studied her needs and pro- 
vided for them so well that his 400 hens give a gross income of over $3 
each, besides giving meat and eggs for the family and fertilizer for the 
garden and fruit. 

Mr. Cosgrove prefers Wyandottes for several good reasons. They are 
dignified without being dull. It takes a young and lively man to keep track 
of Leghorns. The Wyandottes will stay quietly inside a four-foot fence. 
They are thickly feathered, and do not require such warm housing as the 
more nervous breeds. Their combs are small — in fact head and comb can 
easily be put under the wing at night. Mr. Cosgrove says that if he 
were breeding Leghorns he would clip off their combs in the Fall about as 
Game cocks are trimmed. The wound would soon heal and the bird would 
suffer less from the cold. Mr. Cosgrove's experience shows what a man 
can do by selecting a breed or family with a definite performance in 
view. During the fearful Winter of 1904 his Wyandottes in their small 
and simple houses laid so well that they earned $20 a week clear of ex- 
penses. Of course, people heard of this and rightly thought that the 
character of the hens was largely responsible for it. As they could not 
hire Mr. Cosgrove to come and manage their poultry they were glad to pay 
a good price for part of his skill and care. Every hen on his farm and 



Who Should Keep Hois* 115 

every egg that they lay will carry part of his skill in the shape of "pedi- 
gree," which we may call condensed performance. It always happens that 
when a careful man develops a flock of poultry so that they can earn more 
than the average, others are willing to pay extra for the stock. This repu- 
tation helps the sale of everything else that is grown on the farm. 

BREEDING BUSINESS HENS.— The experience of C. H. Wyckoff, 
who became famous as a White Leghorn breeder, makes this point strong- 
er. He started as a dairyman on a poor farm. There were 18 hens on the 
farm, which did little besides scratching up the garden. Mrs. Wyckoff 
had these hens put in a house with a yard and kept an account of eggs and 
food. They paid a profit of 75 cents a hen, and this gave Mr. Wyckoff an 
idea of what 500 good hens would do. He became satisfied that White 
Leghorns would pay him better, and so he got good specimens and began 
to study them and their needs. His case was quite different from that of 
Mr. Cosgrove. While the latter was an elderly man in poor health, Mr. 
Wyckoff was a young man, strong and vigorous, and with great capacity for 
work. While Mr. Cosgrove could raise no grain, Mr. Wyckoff could grow a 
large part of what was needed on his farm. I refer to this to show that the 
Business Hen suits all, the young, the old, the strong and the weak, pro- 
vided they "love the hen." Six years after the 18 hens were put on record 
Mr. Wyckoff had 600 hens, which gave him a yearly income of $2,140, with 
a net profit of $1,070 after charging labor at $30 a month and interest on. 
investment. 

Mr. Wyckoff kept his hens in long yards or parks, growing plum or 
other fruit trees therein. This gave a double crop and left the farm free 
for a rotation of grain, hay and potatoes — the hens furnishing a good share 
of the manure required. Mr. Cosgrove also keeps his hens in yards, but 
makes no effort to cultivate the remainder of the farm. Mr. Wyckoff 
became a poultry expert. His careful study of the hen made him in time 
one of the most capable judges of Leghorns in the country. He never 
intended to go into the business of selling eggs for hatching; in fact he 
was quite annoyed when, after the story of his success was printed in The 
R. N.-Y., people wanted to buy eggs and stock. The hens were paying well 
at providing eggs for eating purposes, but this very fact gave them an 
added value as breeders, and Mr. Wyckoff found that his hens had made 
him famous. Even the best of the young roosters, which were formerly 
sold as broilers, were easily sold at a dollar or more for breeders. This 
is always the experience of those who develop a good strain of poultry. 

THE ENTIRE FARM.— Thus far we have discussed the plan thought 
best by many of yarding the hens on a small part of the farm and leaving 
the rest of the land idle or to be devoted to crop growing. The reverse 
of this plan is followed by O. W. Mapes, who tells us elsewhere about one 
day's work. Mr. Mapes has a pasture farm, rocky and in places quite thin. 



116 The Business Hen. 

His object is to save the expense of fencing and the "waiting on the 
hens" that is necessary when they are yarded. We get a good idea of his 
methods from his story. As between this plan and those followed by 
Mr. Cosgrove and Mr. Wyckoff there are arguments on both sides. 
Mapes saves the cost of fences, and in Summer the hens pick up nearly 
40 per cent of their ration. One man, in Summer, can care for three times 
as many hens on this colony plan as he can when all are yarded. The 
great advantage of the yarding plan comes in Winter. It is a hard 
cold job to travel through deep snow to feed the hens in colony houses. 
The yard plan, with hens crowded together, is much better for the pro- 
duction of Winter eggs, which bring the highest price. It is not always 
true that the egg which brings the highest price per dozen is the most 
profitable egg, for it may cost too much to produce it. There is good profit 
in the Summer egg, even at a low price. The colony plan does not give as 
good a chance for selecting and breeding the best stock for breeders. In 
order to do that properly we must have some form of yard where the 
breeders can be kept by themselves. Mr. Mapes has been very success- 
ful with his hens, and his experience adds to the proof that a man who has 
"hen in his heart" can make poultry pay under any circumstances, tor 
example, Mr. Hayward, of New Hampshire, makes his hens pay under 
conditions which most people would at first thought say are impossible. 
A brief outline of Mr. Hayward's plan is given on page 57 with a 
picture of one of his little houses. His 9,000 hens are kept in these little 
coops from the day they arrive as pullets till they are sold the next year 
as hens. The pullets are all bought from farmers, and are of no special 
breed. It is a hen-feeding farm, and the hens give an average profit of 
nearly one dollar each in spite of their close confinement. We cannot 
advise any such system for the average farmer, but it shows again how a 
careful man can take some breed of poultry and adapt it to any reasonable 
condition. 

WITH A GARDEN.— Mr. Hartman tells us on page 73 how his hens 
provide Winter work on a truck farm. The experience of Alfred Johnson, 
of New Jersey, shows another side of poultry keeping. Mr. Johnson was 
a jeweler by trade. His eyes gave out, and instead of trying to find 
another job in town he bought 18 acres of land not far from Paterson, N. 
J., running in debt for the place. He studied his farm, and finally decided 
to make hens and strawberries his chief crops, with such other vegetables 
and fruits as would go with them. After 12 years work he sold in one 
year from his 18 acres $4,137.62 worth of produce. The 400 hens con- 
tributed nearly $800 worth of this in eggs, and also provided a good share 
of the fertilizer for the fruit. Of course, these hens were housed and fed 
with great care. They were kept clean and healthy. They are, of course, 
yarded since it would be impossible to give poultry a free run on a small 



IV ho Should Keep Hens? 117 

fruit farm. After a time such yards become so foul that even plowing 
and growing pasture crops will not relieve them. The upper surface is 
scraped off and carried out to be used as manure, and fresh sand is brought 
back to take its place. Plum and pear trees are grown in the yards, giving 
considerable fruit. Mr. Johnson makes the most of the hen manure by- 
mixing it with chemicals. It is kept hard and dry by dusting plaster under 
the perches. Twice a week the manure is removed and carried to a dry 
shed. In the Spring the hard chunks are spread out on a cement floor and 
pounded fine with a maul or heavy spade. It is then sifted, the coarse 
pieces being crushed again. Mr. Johnson mixes 400 pounds of sifted hen 
manure, 200 pounds dissolved bone black, 100 pounds muriate of potash 
and 150 pounds of plaster, and has a fertilizer which gives good results on 
his heavy and naturally rich soil. He uses large quantities of stable 
manure in addition, and this should be remembered by those who mix 
chemicals with hen manure. For most garden and fruit crops it would 
be necessary to use 200 pounds of nitrate of soda with the other chemicals. 
Mr. Johnson selected the Leghorn type of hen for his foundation stock 
because they are the best for laying large white eggs, which his market 
demands. He kept at first both Whites and Browns. The latter laid more 
eggs than the Whites, but the eggs were small. As an experiment Mr. 
Johnson began crossing the two breeds, and obtained chicks of all sorts of 
colors. Some of these cross-bred chicks were coal black, and as he liked 
their appearance Mr. Johnson saved the pullets and bred them to a pure 
Black Minorca rooster. As a result he has developed a strain of large 
black birds which are excellent layers. He has used a Black Minorca 
rooster most years and a Brown Leghorn twice without greatly changing 
the type of his hens. One flock of 270 hens averaged 1G0 eggs per year. 
Mr. Johnson had no desire to breed purebred poultry. He was simply- 
after the hen that would lay the most eggs in Winter, for he has little time 
to give them in Summer. As is the case with all who develop a good 
flock, these black hens made such a reputation in the market that people 
wanted eggs for hatching. The pullets and even the young roosters are 
in demand for breeding stock. Strange to say, Mr. Johnson makes little 
use of incubators. These black hens will "sit," but they are poor nurses, 
and the little chicks are raised in brooders. The hens are marked with 
a toe punch which makes a hole on the web of the foot. One mark is 
made for each year of the hen's age. Two-year-old hens are used for 
breeders — about fifteen being put in a pen with a lively young cockerel. 
Mr. Johnson plans to use always purebred males. The three-year-old 
hens are fattened and sold, for Mr. Johnson thinks a hen yields like a 
strawberry plant. The best production is in the first year, but it is usually 
wise to fit up the hen and the berry field so as to run it another year. 
I have known a number of people to start out with the idea of imi- 



118 The Business tint. 

tating Mr. Johnson's success. Most of them failed, and the. reasons for 
their failure were quite evident to all but themselves. They underesti- 
mated their job, called it too easy and thought that success would follow- 
without great exertion on their part. Some of them visited Mr. Johnson 
and saw how quietly and easily he went about his work. They copied his 
feeding methods and his plans for care, but they could not see that while 
their work was mechanical a thousand invisible forces were pulling with 
Mr. Johnson — things which he had gained in 20 hard years of experience. 
A man to succeed with poultry must have the patience of a sitting hen. In 
spite of all he can read or observe, or all the advice others can give 
him, the little chicks will die in the brooders. Many people grow dis- 
couraged at this loss, and quit the business. Then in the Fall, when the 
pullets are getting ready for laying, the expense for feeding is enormous 
and there is no income. It seems well-nigh impossible to fill up these 
greedy birds and the beginner who counts the cost without seeing the end 
is apt to grow frightened and slacken up on the feeding to save cost. 
He could not do a worse thing, for this will hold them back for weeks, 
and lose the value of Winter eggs. So the hen man needs a trunk full 
of patience and a bushel of faith, and we would not make the poultry 
business seem "too easy" to the beginner. Mr. Johnson has succeeded. 
The hens helped to pay for his home. They have given him a competence 
and now, since the death of his wife, carry him each year on a three- 
months' excursion to various parts of the world. 

POULTRY FOR WOMEN.— I have heard a man tell how he ran away 
from a small New England farm when a boy because it seemed impossible to 
make it provide a simple living. He. went back 20 years later expecting 
to find the place grown up to brush — abandoned. To his surprise he 
found the little farm prospering — neat and clean, with new buildings and 
conveniences in the house that he never heard of as a boy. As he ex- 
pressed it, this had been brought about by "a hen and an old maid". 
A woman driven out of other employment had invested her savings in the 
farm. She had taken up poultry culture, and by good management and 
hard work had made the farm pay dividends which the former owners 
never thought possible. My friend's combination of "hen and old maid" 
has great possibilities, though married women and young girls are by 
no means barred. There are many cases where women have met with 
great success with poultry, though as a rule the business is harder for 
them than for men. They do such work as hatching, brooding and caring 
for the chicks better than men. We all know how as a last resort young 
stock that does not thrive with ordinary treatment is turned over to 
mother's care. The rougher work of cleaning houses, killing and dressing 
poultry, etc., is hard for a woman, and it is doubtful if she should 
attempt poultry keeping on a large scale without a stout boy or man to 



Who Should Keep Hens? 119 

help her. On a farm where there are willing helpers, mother and the 
girls will often make a great success with the farm poultry. There are 
plenty of eases where such women have started with a poor (lock of 
culls, and by wise selection and breeding developed a line class of poultry 
that paid better than any other stock on the farm. Women can and will 
try many things for the comfort of stock which men would not think 
of. There has been considerable discussion as to whether it pays to 
provide artificial heat for Kens. We may give here the experience of 
Zimmer Bros, who live in Cayuga Co., New York, a cold" section. 

"We have one poultry house, 30xG0, which is divided into 12 pens 
and has an alley through the center of the house. We use a hot water 
heater and pipe system for heating it at a cost of $100 for the heating 
system. Last Winter we used one ton of coal to keep this building 
at a temperature of 35 to 40. We let the fire out when a thaw was 
on, and only ran it when the thermometer came to the freezing point 
inside the building, which was about half the time. This building is used 
for a brooder house during the Spring months, and this is when we get 
full value from our heating system by using the hot water pipes for 
brooders. We have another house, 20x50, divided into six pens with a 
stove in one end, and the smoke pipe running the whole length of house. 
One ton of coal has run this stove during the past cold Winter, keeping 
the inside temperature above freezing. Both these houses are lined, 
which makes the coal bill small, but when we build again we shall not 
line the house, because the lining is of no use except during two or 
three cold months, and the interest on the cost of lining will buy enough 
coal to keep the house from freezing, and we have severe Winters in 
this section." 

The farm women can often do much to interest the boys in good 
poultry. Really a good flock of hens is better for a farmer's boy than a 
colt or calf. The hens will keep him busy, give money returns quicker 
and furnish more novelty. Where a woman can interest the boys and get 
them to help her care for the hens we have one of the best combinations 
that can be made on a farm. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Odds and Ends. 

How much cut bone should be f t.-* 1 ? 

It depends upon what you feed with it. With corn alone or for most of 
the ration one ounce per hen each day will be safe. Less if meat or linseed 
is used in the mash. 

Iluvv long should hens be kept for layers? 

Depends upon the hen. Sonic Inns will lay profitably at four years 
old, Others arc of little use after the second season. The majority jf 
poultrymen sell ordinary hens when :." .. years old. 

Will hens continue to lay when no male bird is kept with them? 

VeSJ better than when a crowd of surplus roosters arc kept. .'e would 

keep no rooster except with the breeding hens. 

Will infertile eggs Keep longer than fertile ones' 

Yes, in warm weather or in places where the eggs are heated. In cool 
weather there is httle difference. 

How long after the male is placed with the hens will the eggs become 

fertile? 

Cases are on record where eggs laid 10 hours after the male was intro- 
duced hatched healthy chicks. The surest results are obtained after six or 
seven Aa\ s. 

How long after the male is taken away will the eggs remain fertile? 

In some cases eggs laid two weeks after the male was removed have 
hatched. We must remember that hens vary greatly in this respect. 
Some rarely, if ever, lay eggs that will hatch, while others lay a largo 
proportion of hatchable eggs. After a hen has been laying for a long tim& 
the eggs are less likely to be fertile than earlier in the season. The male 
pays greater attention to some hens than to others. This is one reason 
why the system of douhle males (page 27) pays. 

How can we prevent fertile eggs from hatching and not injure them 
for sale? 

Shake or jar the egg. Hold it in the right hand and strike at the other 
hand so as to shock the egg without breaking the shell. This breaks up 
the delicate membranes inside the egg and destroys its life. 

Does a Leghorn hen ever become broody? 

Yes, but few will sit through the period of incubation. They are s& 
nervous that a little handling will break them of the desire. Few pure 
1 eghorns are safe mothers. 



Odds and Ends. 121 

HEN PASTURE. -Where there is land enough it pays to have parti- 
tions in the chicken yard so as to give pasture for the hens. A crop of 
Crimson clover in the Spring will provide 60 per cent of the hen's food 
while it lasts. Rape is excellent for hen feed, and a patch of it may be 
ready when the clover is done. Another small patch of oats may follow 
this, and the place where the Crimson clover grew may be sown to cow 
peas. After the oats are done this patch may be seeded to Crimson clover 
and turnips, thus keeping up a succession of green food. 

DOUBLE CHICKEN YARDS.— Our henhouses are built so that they 
open into two large yards. The family garden is alternated back and forth 
between them. This year the hens run in what was last year's garden ; 
next year they will be put where the garden is now. This plan is a good 
one where there is space enough for a large yard. The droppings of the 
hens are utilized and the soil is cleaned up and purified by cropping. On 
most of the garden soil it is possible to follow the last crop with Crimson 
clover or rye, which make good Spring pasture for the hens. These 
chicken yards are long and narrow. We find that it pays to go in with 
a horse and small plow frequently and turn the soil over. This gives the 
hens an abundance of worms and helps fit the ground for next year's 
garden. 

CATCHING HENS. — The two devices shown herewith are useful 
to save chasing a hen and running her down. The upper one is like a 
small-sized shepherd's crook — a 

wooden handle with a bent wire =^ «===== 

attached. This wire can be reached 
out to catch the hen by the leg 
and hold her. The other is a 
good-sized fisherman's hand net 
with a long handle. With a little 
practice it becomes easy to catch the hen in this net. 

POULTRY AS INSECTICIDES.— Poultry eat large quantities of 
insects when permitted free range. They are particularly fond of earth- 
worms, grasshoppers and the like. We have never known hens to eat 
Squash bugs, or Potato beetles, though' there are reports from good authori- 
ties that they have done so. We once kept a large flock of hens and 
chicks in a potato field, after the plants were about six inches high. They 
certainly ate many of the egg clusters of the Potato beetle, but, so far 
as we could see, none of the hatched insects. We have kept chickens in 
a cornfield with very good results. A well-known method of fighting the 
Asparagus beetle and the Onion maggot is to scatter coops with hens and 
young chickens over the field. In an orchard poultry consume many injuri- 
ous insects, and greatly help the trees. Ducks are perhaps the best insect- 
killers of all domestic poultry. It is reported on good authority that 



122 The Business Hen. 

they will eat Potato beetles, Army worms and even chinch bugs. In 
tobacco and cntton fields overrun with grass geese have been used to 
help weed the crop. They will eat a fair share of the grass and leave the 
cotton and tobacco. 

TRAINING AN EGG EATER. — A man sees an empty orange crate 
in the village store, and says to the grocer: "Give me that, will you? It's 
just what I want for a couple of hen's nests." He takes it home and nails 
it up in the henhouse, putting two inches or so of straw in the bottom. 
The hens like that nest and lay six or eight eggs in it ; the next hen that 
jumps down into the nest is a heavy one, and her toe smashes an egg. As 
she turns to cuddle the eggs under her she sees the most delicious morsel 
that a hen has ever tasted, plunges her beak into it and greedily sucks it 
up ; then eats the shell and begins to scratch to get the last particle of it, 
throwing the eggs against the side of the box and perhaps breaking 
another, which is also eaten. Next day she goes to scratching again in 
the nest, remembering what a treat she found there, and breaks another 
egg, and now your confirmed egg eater is formed. The remedy, in the 
case of that hen, is to cut off her head. But prevention is much better; 
have no nest that a hen has to jump dozen into. Fill all nests to within four 
inches of top, so the hens can step from the edge into the nest, and the 
liability of having egg eaters in the flock will be very much lessened. 

POULTRY PESTS.— Hawks capture many chicks. A good marksman 
can kill a few and hang them on poles about the yards. A southern 
remedy is to mix strychnine in molasses and rub a little on the top of 
each small chicken. The hawk is supposed to poison himself while eating 
the chick! Guinea hens alarm the neighborhood when hawks are near. 
The best remedy is to keep the little chicks in covered runs until they 
are large enough to run for shelter. It is well to have low-growing shrubs 
about where the chicks can hide. Cats have caused us great damage, 
which we have mostly avoided by keeping the little birds in covered yards. 
If pigs run in the field with the chicks they must be carefully watched. If 
a pig once gets a taste of chicken he will chase the birds constantly. Rats 
and larger wild animals, like minks, are sworn enemies of little chicks. 
They can only be kept out of the brooders by making them rat-proof, lifted 
above the ground with no chance for the rat to climb. Cement floors and 
stone foundations are particularly useful in poultry houses, because the 
rats cannot work into them. In some cases rats congregate in the barn in 
great numbers, and cats and traps are powerless to keep them down. In 
such cases poisons are used. A cake made of cornmeal and bran, with 
a quantity of white arsenic mixed in, is baked much the same as a biscuit, 
and crumbs of it are scattered about the building. It usually does the 
business, but the hens must be shut up and the cats and other domestic 
animals kept away from the barn while this poison is about. 



Odds and Ends. 123 

POULTRY MANURE.— Some people have extravagant ideas about the 
value of hen manure, calling it worth as much as Peruvian guano. It has 
no such value, as a little thought will show. The manure which forms 
the guano comes from birds that live mostly on fish and meat. The bodies 
of dead birds are also mixed with it. The hen lives mostly on grain or 
food that other farm stock eat, and we can easily see there can be no fer- 
tilizing value to the manure except what comes from the food. An average 
sample of hen manure without too much litter or sand in it is worth about 
four times as much as an equal weight of cow manure. This is because 
the excrement from the kidneys is passed with the solids, while with 
other farm animals it is separated and largely lost. Hen manure contains 
a large proportion of nitrogen, and, if used alone, gives best satisfaction on 
crops that make most of their growth above ground, like corn, cabbage or 
vegetables. Where there is but a small quantity it can be kept in barrels, 
spread in the Spring and worked into the garden soil. On large poultry 
farms it is often successfully used for mixing with chemicals to make a fer- 
tilizer. Plaster or acid phosphate alone or mixed with sawdust is sprinkled 
under the perches so as to keep the manure dry and free from fermentation. 
As often as need be it is raked off the platform and stored in a dry 
shed. In the Spring it will be found in dry hard lumps, which are crushed 
as fine as possible, usually by beating them on a hard floor with heavy 
shovels. The following mixture gives good results for many crops : 1,000 
pounds sifted hen manure, 500 pounds acid phosphate, 200 pounds muriate 
of potash and 300 pounds of fine ground bone. Do not use lime under the 
roosts nor mix it with the manure long before it is put into the soil, for 
the lime starts a chemical action which sets free the ammonia. The plaster 
or the acid phosphate may be used under the roosts, because they stop 
this escape of ammonia. Hen manure and wood ashes may be put to- 
gether in the soil, but should not be mixed and left above ground. The 
custom followed by many farmers of putting a handful of pure hen 
manure in and around each hill of corn is a good one, for such manure is 
especially useful for corn. 

PRESERVING EGGS. — It is often desirable to carry eggs through 
several months or a year. Most hens persist in laying most of their eggs 
through Spring and early Summer. In late Summer and Winter eggs 
are scarce and high in price. If one can take eggs worth 15 cents a dozen 
and hold them so that they will be fresh and good when the price is 
40 cents he has a good business proposition. In the large cities this is 
done by putting the eggs in cold storage, but this is impossible on the 
farm. Formerly such eggs were kept fairly well in lime water, but this 
gave a brittle shell and many of the eggs were "musty." The most 
practical way of preserving eggs is to keep them dipped in a solution of 
water glass or silicate of soda. T 1 1 i s water glass can be boughj ;it mp$1 



124 The Business Hen, 

drug stores or from large manufacturers. To use it the solution is placed 
in a wooden or stoneware vessel, and nine times the quantity of fresh 
pure water poured in. The eggs are placed in the liquid when gathered, 
as fresh as possible, only allowing them to cool off. Put in as many eggs 
as the solution will cover. Cover with a lid to retard evaporation and keep 
out dust. Store in a cool cellar until wanted for use. The eggs should 
keep perfectly at least one year. The eggs must be sound and fresh when 
placed in the solution — it will not restore stale or spoiled specimens. One 
pound of water glass properly diluted will cover about 14 dozens of eggs. 
We have used the same solution two years in succession with good re- 
sults, but it is probably best to start each season with a fresh supply. 
The only change to be noted in eggs preserved one year in a 10-per-cent 
solution is that the white or albumen is rather more watery than in per- 
fectly fresh eggs. They closely resemble new-laid eggs in appearance 
and quality after being rinsed and dried off. They are useful for all 
culinary purposes except boiling in the shell, as they are likely to crack if 
heated too suddenly and the interior does not look quite as inviting when 
opened. Repeated trials have since convinced us that these eggs keep 
well for two weeks after coming out of the solution if stored in a cool 
place, and are even better for some purposes, as the white becomes less 
watery. This does not warrant offering water-glassed eggs as fresh, how- 
ever. They are preserved eggs, and should be so called if offered for sale. 
As a household economy for the storage of eggs when cheap and plenti- 
ful the water-glass process is to be heartily commended. With a stock of 
well-preserved eggs packed in April and May available for family use 
during the succeeding cold months the farmer or poultry keeper is at 
liberty to sell his Winter product as laid. This method is for home con- 
sumption and not for eggs to be sold as "fresh." 

A FAMILY FLOCK.— H. H. Boardman, of Connecticut, says: "Fur 
about 30 years I have kept small flocks of Black Spanish, Brahmas, White 
and Brown Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, and White Wyandottes. For value 
I would reverse the order of above list. The Plymouth Rocks are fine 
fowls. As Winter layers they are only excelled by White Wyandottes, 
and that but slightly. But they have some defects. They are too large. I 
had a yearling cockerel weighing 11^4 pounds ; a couple of two-year-old 
hens 10 pounds each. My friend the butcher prefers those of six to eight 
pounds. They sell better, he says. Their single combs in extremely cold 
weather often becomes frostbitten, which stops their laying. Finally, they 
are the only breed with me that have been troubled with rheumatism, 
where the others under like conditions have not been at all affected. The 
White Wyandottes, while not perfect, seem to combine more good qualities 
than any breed I have tried. Averaging five to eight pounds, they seem 
to be about the right weight for the table. For laying, however, best 



Odds and Ends. 125 

results come from pullets — 65 to 70 per cent for December, January and 
February. Two-year-old hens, on account of late moulting and early cold 
weather, dropped this past Winter to 10 or 15 per cent, which is much 
smaller than previous years, so it would seem to be more profitable to keep 
more pullets and fewer old hens. Another difficulty I find in propagating; 
chickens that get out of the shell are hardy and healthy, but percentage 
is small, 25 to 50 per cent. Eggs from pullets seem to hatch much better 
than from two-year-old hens. Perhaps the redundancy of eggs during the 
Winter months causes weakness and thus impairs reproductive qualities of 
the eggs. This year breeding from pullets gave 65 chicks from 12 sittings; 
last year breeding from two-year-old hens, 25 chicks from nine sittings. 
There has been much complaint about poor hatching of Wyandotte eggs. 

"In feeding chicks after first few days, I give cracked corn and wheat 
early in the morning, mash of middlings and cracked corn about nine 
o'clock, wetted with skim-milk; corn and wheat again at noon; more mash 
about three; more corn and wheat just before sundown. Fresh water, a 
little fresh meat, grass or green food go without saying. Others may 
have a better system, but I find chicks thrive on this, and seldom lose one 
unless by accident. 

"I have two houses for hens with about one-eighth acre yard to each. 
No. 1 house, 7 x 12, walls of matched boards, ceiling and walls lathed and 
plastered, one window facing south and one west. No. 2 house, 9 x 16. 
walls of matched boards, unlined, four windows facing south, that side 
being practically all glass; cost to build about two-thirds that of No. 1. 
Both houses are without floors, the earth bottom being covered with litter 
and location dry. Winter of 1902-3 10 two-year-old hens in No. 1 house 
laid in December, January and February 441 eggs, 44.01 per hen. Same 
months of 1903-4 18 two-year-old hens in No. 1 house laid 160 eggs, 8.99 
per hen. This great disparity may be attributed to late moulting, early 
cold weather, and too many hens in narrow quarters. Other conditions 
were substantially the same. Tn house No. 2, in December, January and 
February, 1902-3, 19 May pullets laid 1,030 eggs, 54.2 per hen. Same 
months of 1903-4 13 May pullets laid 651 eggs, 50.1 per pullet. Two of 
the coldest days of Winter, January 4 and 5, when the temperature dropped 
to 33 degrees below zero here, the 13 pullets laid 19 eggs. When the 
temperature was 20 degrees or above the doors of both houses remained 
open during the day, and hens came outside most of the day when the 
ground was bare. Warm mash was composed of wheat middlings, cracked 
corn, ground beef scraps, ground oyster shells, moistened with skim-milk 
and hot water in the morning. Add once or twice a week a little powdered 
charcoal and cut bone. At noon give a little of the mash with remnants 
from the table; at night whole corn, wheat and oats; cabbage and cut 
clover occasionally." 



INDEX 



PAGE. 

Bantam Breeding 96 

Barns for Hens r>n 

Breeds, American 6 

Asiatics 8 

Business 5 

( Crossing 18 

Mediterranean 5 

Breeders, Care of 15 

Breeding to Type 81, 82 

Broilers, Coop of 85 

"Squab" 4? 

Brooder, Homemade 36 

Houses 38 

Brooders, Clean 39 

Chicken Bread 43 

Coops 41 

Yards, Double 121 

Chick, Baby, Care of 40 

Chicks, Helping Ont of Shell 34 

How Mapes Feeds 44 

Cholera 10b 

Cockerels, Keep Separate 46 

Cold Storage 87 

Colony Plan 68, 69, 70. 71, 72 

Crate for Live Poultry 8ft 

Disease Prevention 98 

Diseases, Hereditary 08 

Drinking Fountain 68 

Ducks 06, 97 

Egg Eater, Training 122 

How Made 18 

Packages 00 

Parts of 10 

Parents of 13 

Sex Of 2.X 

Shipment, Regular 91 

Time Required to Produce.. 26 

What is? 18 

Eggs, Fancy Market for 88 

Forms of u::. 24. 25 

From Table Scraps 77 

Incubator Testing 30 

Preserving 1 23 

Uniform for Hatching 28 

Feeding, Correct 98 

Devices 67 

Various Methods of 

60. 61, 62, 63 

Fence, Wire 1 00 

Flock. Family 124 

Scrub. Improving 11 

Floor Materials 55 

Food Stuffs, Analysis of !">!> 

Foods, Muscle-making Needed. . . 65 

Gapes 104 

Guinea Fowl 93 

Den, Broody 29 

Broody, Breaking Up 32 

Catching 121 

( 'osgrove's 114 

Dust Box 55 



PAGE. 

Hen House, Warming 53 

for Hatching 30 

House Interiors 51, 52 

House, Did, Repairing 12 

House, Sanitary 99 

House, Essentials For 40 

Johnson's 117 

Non-Sitters 5 

Dn Truck Farm 116 

Pasture 121 

Pedigree 112 

Scrub 10 

Should Lay Young 45 

Sitting, How Cosgrove Han- 
dles' 30 

Vs. Cows 113 

YVyekoff's 115 

Young, Care of 45 

Incubation, What Is 20 

incubators, Handling 32 

Intluenza 00 

Kerosene Emulsion 107 

Layer, Selecting 13 

Leghorns, Brown 6 

White 6 

Lice lor. 

Lime and Sulphur Wash 108 

Mangels as Feed 43 

Market Gardener's Hens. .. 73, 74, 75 

Marketing Poultry Products. ... 83 

Meat Shop. Jewish 84 

Minorcas, Black 6 

Moulting. Hastening 109 

Nests, Trap 14 

Pedigree 13 

Pigeons and Squabs 94 

Plymouth Rock, Origin of 6 

Special Features of 7 

Poultry as Insect Killers 121 

For Women 118 

Killing SO 

Manure 123 

Pests 122 

Purebred, Advantage of. . . . Ill 

Ration, Balanced 58 

Maintenance 66 

Rhode Island Red 6 

Roost, Swinging 50 

Roosts, Best Form of 50 

Roosters, How Many for Flock. . 27 

Roup 101 

Scaly I^g 104 

Scratching Shed Arrangement... 53 

Selection. C. II. Wyckoff on 13 

Shell and Grit Box 50 

Surgical Treatment 105 

Tonics 10S 

Turkeys, Care of 95 

Wyandotte, White, Value of. ... 8 

Yards, Treatment of 101 



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